The Harvard Divinity School’s Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging hosted a “Gathering to Breathe and Heal” event on Thursday to help students grieve the resignation of disgraced former President Claudine Gay.
“For this gathering, we will create a space for us to discuss and process the departure of our former president, Claudine Gay,” the office wrote in a newsletter announcing the event, obtained by The Daily Wire. The event was intended to give participants the opportunity to “gather to breathe and to heal.”
Gay was forced to resign from her position last month amid allegations of plagiarism in various academic works that came to light while she was already under immense pressure for her failure to address the rise of antisemitism on campus.
The newsletter stated that many students are feeling grief upon their arrival to campus.
“This grief and loss may be connected to our personal lives; national and global unrest, harm, and violence; storms and natural disasters; or these increasing times of tension and divide on our campus and in our communities,” it said. “For many of us, this grief and loss also includes the resignation of former President Claudine Gay after her short tenure.”
“This is not a space for debate; rather, it is a container for holding emotions in community knowing that the circle holds us all,” the email read.
The event was facilitated by Melissa Wood Bartholomew, Associate Dean for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging, and Steph Gauchel, Assistant Dean for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging.
The office said it remains “steadfast” in its commitment to navigate current challenges on campus through “a restorative justice approach rooted in indigeneity and operationalized through love.”