Op Eds
October 7th, or the Day I Wished I Were a Tree
Rather than denying other’s experiences of bigotry, we need to fight all forms of hatred together.
The Harvard Alumni Association Keeps Harvard Governance Homogenous
Harvard’s current selection process for the Board of Overseers, which is dominated by the Harvard Alumni Association, is not fit to address the University's current issues.
A Letter to the Outside World
Since Oct. 7, another story has developed in parallel to the antisemitism on Harvard’s campus — the story of the public’s reaction to it. This piece is about that story.
I’m Derek Penslar’s Student: He Is the Right Choice for the Task Force
There are many facts I could tell you to support Derek J. Penslar’s appointment as co-chair of Harvard’s antisemitism task force. Instead, I will show you what it’s been like to be one of Penslar’s students.
Is Shared Governance Possible at Harvard?
The present crisis at Harvard and the University’s damaged reputation calls for reform. Faculty and students should have a say in university governance.
Our Plagiarism Policy Must Be Improved. Harvard, Here’s How.
In order to bolster our commitment to academic integrity and fortify our academic freedom, Harvard must make serious changes to our plagiarism policies now.
Some Want Harvard’s Federal Funding Gone. Harvard Should Agree.
It’s time for Harvard to free itself from ballooning congressional intervention by ditching federal funds.
Harvard’s Legacy of Antisemitism
In our view, the public discourse on antisemitism at Harvard risks becoming dangerously divorced from life on our campus.
Interpreting the Harvard Faculty’s Lack of Ideological Diversity
It is an odd feature of our current time that we allude to an ideal of weighing “all viewpoints” against one another. Indeed, we must ask whether the proposition to include “all viewpoints” is reasonable or even possible.
One for Me, One for You: Garber’s Parallel Task Forces Are a Good Start
Garber's two new task forces could signal the beginning of a new age of leadership at Harvard.
Enough Outside Bullying: Penslar Is the Right Choice To Lead the Antisemitism Task Force
It’s time to say enough. The attacks on professor Derek J. Penslar — and by extension on President Garber for appointing him to this role — exemplify two profoundly worrying trends that threaten Harvard’s very mission.
Reaping What We Have Taught
Why antisemitism seems to be a problem at Harvard and other universities is one of the still-unanswered questions that precipitated the University’s downward spiral.
Bill Ackman and the Crusade Against Free Speech
For Ackman and the right, Gay’s departure represents a triumphant victory in a far greater war: the nationwide crusade against free speech, especially when it attempts to shine light on America’s history of oppression.
To Fulfill Its Social Mission, Harvard Must Resist Social Pressures
When outside actors turn up the pressure on Harvard, the proper response won’t be to ignore them, it will be to resist the temptation to respond with anything but a clear-eyed evaluation of the facts.
Go Tell It on the Mountain, Claudine Gay
Today, I do not rejoice at Claudine Gay’s resignation. Instead, I fall to my knees at our collective resignation in the Black woman’s fight to climb to a mountaintop from which we might truly be able to see a promised land.
To Move Forward, Harvard Must Refocus on Its Mission
Can we find a way to move forward and balance freedom of speech with safety and inclusion? I believe that the answer is yes.
I Led Harvard Medical School. With Gay’s Resignation, the Corporation Must Rethink Its Approach to Governance.
With Gay's resignation, the Harvard Corporation, the University’s highest governing body, must weigh whether it has come time to change its approach to its essential fiduciary responsibilities.
Claudine Gay Resigns; Harvard Reacts
Yesterday, Claudine Gay resigned as president of Harvard University, marking the shortest presidential tenure in the school’s centuries-long history. Gay, the University’s first Black president and second woman president, became mired in controversy after the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel and the ensuing conflict on campus, followed by allegations of plagiarism in her academic work. How did we get here? Where do we go now? As the University arrives at a historic inflection point, the opinion section of The Crimson’s special edition on Gay’s resignation offers answers to these important questions from a diversity of perspectives across the Harvard community. —Tommy Barone ’25 and Jacob M. Miller ’25, Editorial Chairs
It’s Open Season On Black Academics
Gay’s resignation signals that not even Harvard — with its unparalleled prestige and enormous endowment — could purchase the kind of spine that higher education needs in the face of vitriolic external pressure and extremist interests. Make no mistake: Her departure opens the door for increased attacks. There’s blood in the water, and the sharks are circling.
In Gay’s Fall, a McCarthyist Tragedy
There is little love lost between most pro-Palestinian students and outgoing President Claudine Gay — even if we might come to miss her.
Gay’s Resignation Is Not a Win Against Antisemitism
If Gay’s resignation follows pressure from powerful figures who saw her support of Israel and protection of Jewish students as inadequate — which I fear will be how it will be remembered, regardless of whether that’s what really happened — it is not the win against antisemitism many may feel it to be.
To the Dreamer: Claudine Gay, We as Black Women Thank You.
Even in this moment of struggle, President Claudine Gay, you serve as a beacon of hope to Black women across the world.
Harvard’s Old Presidential Model Is Dead. Here’s a New One.
Our next president must be everything President Gay should have been but failed to be.
I Vote on Plagiarism Cases at Harvard College. Gay’s Getting off Easy.
I have served as a voting member of the Harvard College Honor Council. I call on University President Claudine Gay to resign for her numerous and serious violations of academic ethics.
Before Invoking Antisemitism, We Need To Define It
By defining what antisemitism means on our campus and acting accordingly, we can define in turn what kind of community we want Harvard to be.