The recent resignation of Harvard University President Claudine Gay has left a void in the leadership of one of the world's most prestigious educational institutions. However, the university community can take solace in the fact that Alan Garber, a highly respected figure within Harvard, will be stepping in as interim leader.
Garber's appointment as interim president is a testament to his vast experience and deep understanding of the university's values and mission. As Provost since 2011, he has played a pivotal role in shaping Harvard's academic agenda and fostering an environment conducive to intellectual growth and innovation. His commitment to excellence and dedication to advancing knowledge make him an ideal choice for this temporary leadership position.
City Journal has also contributed to the public understanding of the changing ideological climate at Harvard and other elite universities, including the deep interrelationship between progressive racial orthodoxy and the rise of campus antisemitism. Heather Mac Donald’s “The Academy at a Crossroads” (Part I, Part II) detailed how the rise of DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) bureaucracies has stifled free speech and fostered an anti-Western ethos that is increasingly embedded in the curriculum. Gay will return to the Harvard faculty, where she has served as a professor of government since 2006.
“I believe in the people of Harvard because I see in you the possibility and the promise of a better future,” Gay wrote. “These last weeks have helped make clear the work we need to do to build that future — to combat bias and hate in all its forms, to create a learning environment in which we respect each other’s dignity and treat one another with compassion, and to affirm our enduring commitment to open inquiry and free expression in the pursuit of truth.”
The fellows of the Harvard Corporation, the University’s senior governing body, thanked Gay and praised her commitment to Harvard and its people in their own message to the community.
The Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance welcomed her resignation, saying that as president, Dr Gay "tacitly encouraged those who sought to spread hate at Harvard, where many Jews no longer feel safe to study, identify and fully participate in the Harvard community".
Civil rights leader Al Sharpton, meanwhile, condemned the resignation and called it "an assault on the health, strength, and future of diversity, equity, and inclusion".
He announced plans to hold a protest on Thursday outside the New York office of Bill Ackman, a hedge fund manager and Harvard graduate who has led calls for Dr Gay to resign.
Alan M. Garber, Harvard's provost and chief academic officer will serve as the school's interim president until a permanent replacement is selected, the governing board said. Garber is an economist and physician who has served as provost for 12 years.
Gay, who was previously the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and a professor of government and of African and African-American Studies, said that she will remain on the faculty at Harvard.
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