Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
It was a setup from the beginning. That was the consensus in numerous group chats and urgent phone calls I witnessed between many Black Harvard alumni watching the backlash against Harvard President Claudine Gay’s testimony before Congress last week.
Dr. Gay started off by denouncing antisemitism on college campuses in an opening statement and acknowledged her own shortcomings in handling the backlash from the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israeli civilians.
“We have seen a dramatic and deeply concerning rise in antisemitism — around the world, in the United States, and on our campuses, including my own. I know many in our Harvard Jewish community are hurting and experiencing grief, fear, and trauma,” Dr. Gay testified.
“In response, I have sought to confront hate while preserving free expression. This is difficult work, and I know that I have not always gotten it right … We have also repeatedly made clear that we at Harvard reject antisemitism and denounce any trace of it on our campus or within our community.”
Despite this sentiment, Dr. Gay, a 53-year-old esteemed political scientist – widely celebrated for becoming Harvard’s first Black president in the university’s 387-year history — was subject to an angry, snarling and emotional interrogation by Republican New York Rep. Elise Stefanik — a 39-year-old Harvard alum — that barely let Dr. Gay get a response out before trampling over her answers.
“A Harvard student calling for the mass murder of African Americans is not protected free speech at Harvard, correct?” Stefanik immediately.
“Our commitment to free speech — ”
“It’s a yes or no question!” Stefanik snapped.
Dr. Gay refused to say “yes” or “no” and tried to explain the same “free speech” legal framework that would eventually get her in…
Read the full article here
