Bucks County Dem Apologizes for Trying to Steal the PA Senate Race
Jon Stewart Rips Into Dems for Their Obnoxious Sugar-Coating of the 2024 Election
Trump's Border Czar Issues a Warning to Dem Politicians Pledging to Shelter Illegal...
Celebrate Diversity (Or Else)!
To Vet or Not to Vet
Homan Says They'll 'Absolutely' Use Land Texas Offered for Deportation Operation
For the First Time in State History, California Voters Say No to Another...
Breaking: ICC Issues Arrest Warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant
Begich Flips Alaska's Lone House Seat for Republicans
It's Hard to Believe the US Needs Legislation This GOP Senator Just Introduced,...
Newton's Third Law of Politics
John Oliver Defended Transgender Athletes Competing in Women’s Sports. JK Rowling Responde...
Restoring American Strength and Security with Trump’s Cabinet Picks
Linda McMahon to Education May Choke Foreign Influence Operations on Campus
Unburden Us From the Universities
Tipsheet

'I'm Sorry': Harvard President Issues Apology Amid Outrage Over Congressional Testimony

AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

Harvard President Claudine Gay has apologized over her controversial remarks during a House Education committee hearing this week.

Gay testified alongside Elizabeth Magill, the president of the University of Pennsylvania, and Sally Kornbluth, head of MIT, during a hearing about the rise of antisemitism on college campuses. 

Advertisement

All three women have faced intense criticism for failing to definitively state that calling for genocide against Jews would be considered a violation of harassment and bullying policies.

When Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) posed the question to Gay, she said it depended on the context.

“It does not depend on the context,” Stefanik, a Harvard alum, fired back. “The answer is yes and this is why you should resign.” 

During an interview with The Harvard Crimson, Gay said she was “sorry.”

“Words matter,” she said. “When words amplify distress and pain, I don’t know how you could feel anything but regret.”  

The apology comes after Gay attempted to do damage control on Wednesday, issuing a statement on Harvard’s social media accounts attempting to clarify her response. 

“There are some who have confused a right to free expression with the idea that Harvard will condone calls for violence against Jewish students,” Gay said Wednesday. “Let me be clear: Calls for violence or genocide against the Jewish community, or any religious or ethnic group are vile, they have no place at Harvard, and those who threaten our Jewish students will be held to account.”

Advertisement

Her statement, and a video from Magill, did nothing to quell the furor over their collective responses, however. The House Committee on Education and the Workforce is launching an investigation of Harvard, UPenn, and MIT over “rampant antisemitism,” furious donors are beginning to pull big money, and calls for their resignations are growing louder.

Gay acknowledged in her interview with The Harvard Crimson what she should have done differently. 

“I got caught up in what had become at that point, an extended, combative exchange about policies and procedures,” she said. “What I should have had the presence of mind to do in that moment was return to my guiding truth, which is that calls for violence against our Jewish community — threats to our Jewish students — have no place at Harvard, and will never go unchallenged.”

“Substantively, I failed to convey what is my truth,” Gay added.

 

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Recommended

Trending on Townhall Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement