Open Secrets reports that several Harvard University employees, including professors, have contributed more than 100 donations, upwards of $1000, to politicians since the 2024 presidential election campaign started, according to the Center Square.
Most of these donations have gone toward Democratic politicians, excluding three Republican candidates, two of whom plan to oppose former Pres. Donald Trump as the party’s choice for president. This latest discovery comes as Harvard remains under scrutiny following the House Committee’s investigation into president Claudine Gay.
Gay, who started in July 2023, was embroiled in two scandals in December. On Dec. 5, Gay was interrogated on the congressional floor regarding anti-semitism on Harvard’s campus. When asked whether calling for the “genocide of Jews” breached Harvard’s rules of conduct, Gay responded, “It can be, depending on the context.”
Then she elaborated, saying, “Antisemitic rhetoric when it crosses into conduct that amounts to bullying, harassment, intimidation—that is actionable conduct, and we do take action.”
Her answer drew backlash from critics who felt Gay did not express her stance strongly enough.
Gay formally apologized and stated that she had become occupied with combativeness over policies rather than the issue at hand. “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,” she told The Harvard Crimson on Dec. 8.
She later penned an additional statement via Harvard University’s official account on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“There are some who have confused a right to free expression with the idea that Harvard will condone calls for violence against Jewish students,” it read. “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.”
Later in December, Gay was accused of plagiarism on her dissertation and about half of the 11 journal articles that appear on her resume, according to New York Magazine. In the materials, she allegedly drew direct references and quotations from other pieces of work to feature as her own.
Gay vehemently denied such allegations and affirmed the quality of her work while speaking to the Boston Globe
.“I stand by the integrity of my scholarship. Throughout my career, I have worked to ensure my scholarship adheres to the highest academic standards,” she remarked. The House Education Committee will be conducting an investigation into the claims. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) spoke about the findings in a letter obtained by Bloomberg. “Our concern is that standards are not being applied consistently, resulting in different rules for different members of the academic community,” she wrote.
“If a university is willing to look the other way and not hold faculty accountable for engaging in academically dishonest behavior, it cheapens its mission and the value of its education.”
Amid calls for Gay’s removal, Open Square’s findings have spurred additional criticism from right-leaning politicians and constituents regarding the more significant implications of donations.
“The older, classically liberal (professors) who tended to support free speech, academic freedom and intellectual diversity are retiring,” Jennifer Kabbany told Center Square. Kabbany is editor of the conservative news website The College Fix, which tracks political correctness on college campuses.
“They are being replaced with younger, more radical scholars who use the classroom for activism and indoctrination rather than education. These new scholars tend to be far more politically active.”