(ConservativeInsider.org) – On Thursday, December 21st, billionaire Len Blavatnik announced the suspension of all financial donations to Harvard University, expressing concerns about President Claudine Gay’s approach to addressing antisemitism on campus. Blavatnik, with an estimated wealth exceeding $30 billion, has channeled donations exceeding $250 million to Harvard through his family foundation.
President Gay faced criticism following her testimony at a congressional hearing earlier this month. During questioning by Representative Elise Stefanik about whether advocating for the genocide of Jews would violate the university’s code of conduct, Gay responded, stating that it depends on the context.
Stefanik also raised concerns about chants of “intifada” at student protests. Gay asserted that, despite calls for violence, such actions do not breach the university’s code of conduct, emphasizing its strong commitment to free speech and ideological diversity.
The Harvard Palestine Solidarity Group attributed the October 7th attack on Israel by Hamas, resulting in over 1,200 Israeli civilian deaths, to the Israeli government in their statement. However, they failed to reference Hamas in the statement.
In the subsequent days, a truck with a billboard circulated around the campus, displaying the faces and names of individuals endorsing the label “Harvard’s Leading Antisemites.” More than ten student groups, initially supporting the document, later withdrew their support.
Furthermore, scholars Christopher Brunet of Karlstack and Christopher Rufo of the Manhattan Institute scrutinized Gay’s doctoral dissertation. Their examination revealed several instances of plagiarism, adding a second scandal to the challenges the embattled school official has faced recently.
After scholars examined her work, the Washington Free Beacon found that Gay had consistently plagiarized in her academic journey, at times lifting complete paragraphs and presenting them as her own. The report revealed that she didn’t give credit to nearly 20 authors in four papers from 1993 to 2017. Gay, who has published eleven papers in total, is implicated in the findings.
The report indicates that approximately twelve scholars collaborated with The Free Beacon to investigate 29 possible instances of plagiarism. Most argued that Gay had violated a fundamental principle of academic integrity and Harvard’s anti-plagiarism rules, stressing that merely changing a few words here and there is insufficient.
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