Harvard University President# Claudine Gay resigned today.
William Brangham has the latest.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Gay's resignation came after She was heavily criticized for her testimony# during a congressional hearing about rising## antisemitism on college campuses and Harvard# University's response to it.
Separately,## critics alleged she plagiarized# some of her academic writings## and revealed examples where she borrowed# some exact language from other scholars.
Gay denied plagiarizing anyone, but said# she would add more citations to some of## her previous works.
She was the first# Black leader of Harvard and now has had## the shortest tenure of any Harvard president.# Harvard's provost and chief academic officer,## Alan Garber, will serve as interim president.
Hilary Burns of The Boston Globe has been# covering all this, and she join Claudine Gay was under fire for weeks, but# seemed to have kept her job until today,## when new plagiarism revelations emerged.# Is that what finally broke the dam here?
HILARY BURNS, The Boston# Globe: I think that's right.
Claudine Gay Hamas attack on Israel.
She's been criticized for# not doing enough to combat antisemitism on campus## amid pro-Palestinian protests.
And then there was# the botched congressional hearing on December 5.
She survived that hearing largely because# of support from faculty and students.
But,## in recent weeks, there's been this near-constant## drumbeat of plagiarism accusations,# and support of G WILLIAM BRANGHAM: On these plagiarism# accusations, some of Gay's supporters said,## everyone needs to recognize that these were# ideological opponents of Gay's who were bringing## out these accusations, and they were against# her and her push for diversity at Harvard.
But of the many plagiarism examples cited --# for instance, if I was a student at Harvard and## had done some of the things she has been found# to have done, what would have happened to me?
HILARY BURNS: That's a good question.
Students at Harvard face discipli plagiarism.
It's taken very seriously.# So many within the Harvard community have## said this appears to be a double standard,# where students are held to this high bar,## and here is the president of the university# with dozens of accusations against her work.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I want to read an# excerpt of Gay's resignation letter here.
She said: "It has been distressing to have doubt# cast on my commitments to confronting hate and## upholding scholarly rigor, two bedrock# values that are fundamental to who I am,## and frightening to be subjected to personal# attacks and threats fueled by racial animus."
I mean, the Harvard Corporation# alluded to the racist vitriol## that had been directed towards Gay as# well.
And many of her suppor we can't overlook the fact that this was a Black# woman that was subject to all of these attacks.
HILARY BURNS: That's right.
Sh accusations and criticism of her at large.
I think# that the fact that the plagiarism accusations were## first reported by a conservative outlet and# then pushed out by conservative activists,## that definitely played a role in the feeling# that there was a political agenda at play here.
And I think that that really confused# members within the Harvard community,## who said, on the one hand, some of these# plagiarism accusations look serious, and,## on the other hand we don't want# politicians or anyone outside## of the university meddling in our# business and telling us what to do.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I want to just double back# to this issue of the antisemitism at Harvard.
And, as you mentioned, there was this criticism# of antisemitic incidents that were happening## at Harvard and the university's response to# it, as well as her congressional testimony,## which, as you alluded to, she seemed to be# making very lawyerly responses to questions## over whether or not it was OK for anyone# on campus to call for the genocide of Jews.
What does your reporting tell# you about how central that## really was to the attacks on her# and to her eventual HILARY BURNS: Well, we don't know exactly at this## point what the straw that# broke the camel's back but we know that coming -- before the plagiarism# accusations, Gay was coming from a d She was already facing so much backlash# for that congressional hearing.
Donors,## alumni were very unhappy with how# things were going at Harvard.
They## saw very frequent pro-Palestinian rallies,# big rallies with hundreds or even over## 1,000 students participating in a couple of# instances, that were calling for a cease-fire.
And they were questioning how this# pro-Palestinian point of view could## be so mainstream at Harvard.
So it's been a# really complicated and tumultuous path for## her since October 7, and the scandals# have really overlapped at this point.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, Hilary# Burns of The Boston Globe, really## appreciate you helping us navigate# HI LARY BURNS: Thank you for having me.