Harvard President Claudine Gay is expected to remain in her post after her congressional testimony on antisemitism sparked widespread public outrage last week.
The Harvard Corporation, the university’s governing body, issued a statement of support for Gay on Tuesday morning.
“As members of the Harvard Corporation, we today reaffirm our support for President Gay’s continued leadership of Harvard University. Our extensive deliberations affirm our confidence that President Gay is the right leader to help our community heal and to address the very serious societal issues we are facing,” the Corporation said.
The statement was first reported by the Harvard Crimson.
Harvard University did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Gay, University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill and Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Sally Kornbluth each faced intense backlash after they appeared before Congress last week and were grilled about their handling of antisemitism on their respective campuses following the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel in October.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., questioned the Ivy Leage presidents about pro-Palestinian protests allowed on their campuses, and whether calls for the genocide of Jewish people heard at some of these demonstrations constituted bullying or harassment under their respective school codes of conduct.
“At Harvard, does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Harvard’s rules of bullying and harassment?” Stefanik asked Gay specifically.
“It can be, depending on the context,” Gay responded.
“Antisemitic speech when it crosses into conduct that amounts to bullying, harassment, intimidation – that is actionable conduct and we do take action,” Gay said when pressed to answer “yes” or “no” if calls for the genocide of Jews breaks school rules.
“So the answer is yes, that calling for the genocide of Jews violates Harvard code of conduct, correct?” Stefanik asked.
“Again, it depends on the context,” Gay said.
“It does not depend on the context. The answer is yes and this is why you should resign,” Stefanik responded. “These are unacceptable answers across the board.”
Those remarks, and similar comments from Magill and Kornbluth, outraged Jewish groups, prominent alumni and bipartisan lawmakers who demanded that each university chief resign immediately.