Harvard University’s embattled President Claudine Gay is the subject of a fresh complaint outlining more than 40 allegations of her plagiarizing others’ works.
The 37-page document compiles dozens of cases where Gay, a political scientist, allegedly quoted or paraphrased authors without proper attribution in her academic works, going against the Ivy League school’s strict rules, according to the document, which was obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
The outlet reports it independently verified the veracity of the allegations along with the identity of the author — a respected professor at another university, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation.
“[I]t is impossible that your office has already reviewed the entirety of these materials, as many … have not been previously reported or submitted,” the complaint, which was filed with Harvard on Tuesday, reads.
Harvard University did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment Wednesday.
Plagiarism allegations against Gay first surfaced earlier this month, with accusations she lifted other scholars’ works in her 1997 doctoral thesis and that four papers published between 1993 and 2017 did not have proper attribution.
Carol Swain, a former political science professor at Vanderbilt University, said Gay copied sections of her 1993 book, “Black Faces, Black Interests: The Representation of African Americans in Congress,” as well as an article published in 1997 titled, “Women and Blacks in Congress: 1870-1996.”
She added in an essay for the Wall Street Journal: “Ms. Gay had no problem riding on the coattails of people whose work she used without proper attribution. Many of those whose work she pilfered aren’t as incensed as I am. They are elites who have benefited from a system that protects its own.”
In the aftermath of the allegations, The Post revealed how Harvard covered up a weeks-long investigation into whether Gay had used other researchers’ work without crediting it and hired a bulldog law firm to help cover it up.
In a statement on December 12, the Harvard Corporation — the school’s highest governing body — said officials became aware of claims of plagiarism in late October and initiated an independent review. They then claimed they had uncovered three instances of “inadequate citation” on Gay’s part, but no misconduct.
Gay has the unanimous support of the university’s board, the corporation added.
In a statement to the Boston Globe Gay has vehemently defended her academic rigor, saying: “I stand by the integrity of my scholarship. Throughout my career, I have worked to ensure my scholarship adheres to the highest academic standards.”
The plagiarism allegations have attracted the attention of congress, with The House Committee on Education and the Workforce expanding an already-existing investigation into antisemitism on the college campus to include the accusations of plagiarism, according to the Harvard Crimson.
Gay was already under fire over her handling of antisemitic behavior on campus following the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel and her responses at a separate congressional hearing about them where she refused to condemn Harvard students calling for a the genocide of Jews.
“We embrace a commitment to free expression – even views that are objectionable, offensive [and] hateful,” Gay testified. “It’s when that speech crosses into conduct that violates our policies against bullying and harassment. That speech did not cross that barrier.”
In the ensuing firestorm, a bipartisan group of congressmen introduced a resolution calling for Gay to resign from her position, but the college stood by her.
