Claudine Gay, president of Harvard University, has been in the eye of the storm since she participated in the House hearing on antisemitism on college campuses. Added to this was a plagiarism investigation, which led many to expressly ask that she resign from her position, arguing that the same standards should apply to administration and students. In the last few hours, Frank Lutz joined this group.
According to Free Beacon, there are at least 40 accusations of plagiarism against the president of the historic university, which would compromise “almost half of her academic production.”
The accusations have led to a formal investigation promoted by the House Education Committee, headed by Republican Virginia Foxx (R-NC).
“The House Education Committee has begun a review of Harvard University’s handling of credible allegations of plagiarism by President Claudine Gay over a 24-year period. An accusation of plagiarism by a top school official at any university would be cause for concern, but Harvard is not just any university. It defines itself as one of the best educational institutions in the country,” the congresswoman said in mid-December.
Since then, many voices have called for Gay to resign from her position, to which we can now add Frank Lutz, the historic political consultant. With an extensive career in the media, he was the leading pollster in various political campaigns, such as those of Rudy Giuliani, Pat Buchanan, Newt Gingrich and Ross Perot, among many others.
He expressed his opinion about Gay on social networks, where he pointed out that university presidents should set an example for their students and that “otherwise they should resign.”
To support his position, he cited an article from The Harvard Crimson, which compiled some students’ opinions on the matter. For example, in the eyes of Ian M. Moore, “It’s hypocritical for the university to apply one standard to students and another standard to faculty — and perhaps even a third standard to Claudine Gay.”
He was joined by Irati Egorho Diez, who confessed to sympathizing with Gay at first, although she later changed her position after learning of the “breadth and depth” of the plagiarism accusations.
“It really seemed to be something that permeated much of her academic work. I do think that the role of the president should be an embodiment of the values of Harvard College,” she commented. “And this, to me, seems to be the opposite of that,” she added.
University presidents should set an example for their students: https://t.co/NmV7440Ag4
If they cannot do that, then they should step down. pic.twitter.com/GNwggLXjQM
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) December 30, 2023
