The Harvard Crimson newspaper previously reported that Kay would resign Tuesday afternoon. Shortly thereafter, his letter became public, in which the Harvard president explained his reasons in more detail. “This decision was not easy for me. “It was truly indescribably difficult,” Kay wrote. His resignation will allow Harvard to “focus on the institution rather than the individual.”
Kay served six months and was the first black and second woman to be appointed to the top university. In mid-December, Kay avoided resigning after the university's governing body, the Harvard Corporation, backed him.
K has previously been questioned about anti-Semitism in congressional investigations. Asked whether students calling for the “genocide of the Jews” on campus violated the university's code of conduct, he responded: Calls are hateful, but whether such statements violate the code of conduct depends on the context. Bullying and Harassment.
K apologized – Mahil resigned
In addition to Kay, Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik also questioned presidents Liz Magill (University of Pennsylvania) and Sally Kornbluth (MIT) — who responded similarly. The criticism was overwhelming. In early December, Mahil took the consequences and resigned. He is said to be voluntarily resigning the post but will remain a permanent member of the Faculty of Law. No reason was given.
Anti-Semitic incidents and hate crimes against Jews and Muslims have increased since the radical Islamist Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 and Israeli bombing of targets in the Gaza Strip. There were also anti-Semitic activities in the universities.
Kay apologized for her statements in an interview after the trial. “At that moment, I should have had the mindset to go back to my truth, which is that calls for violence against our Jewish community — threats against our Jewish students — have no place at Harvard and can never be challenged,” he said. said.
“NYT”: Accusations from conservative corners
In addition to his statement about anti-Semitism, Kay also faced accusations of plagiarism. The 53-year-old has been accused of not citing properly in his publications. As reported by the New York Times, the allegations were allegedly spread by conservative media outlets.
Harvard said in early December that an outside panel of experts had concluded that Kay's academic work had used some “copycat terminology” but that it did not rise to the level of academic misconduct. Kay firmly defended his work: “I stand by the integrity of my scientific work.” In early January, the allegations were re-released and are now being investigated.
