The flames of the new round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict have "burned" to the top American universities, this time Harvard University.
On January 2, Harvard University President Claudina Gay announced her resignation. Since taking office last July, Gay has enjoyed the aura of the first black president and the second female president in Harvard's history, and is now forced to resign because of criticism of his stance on the "anti-Semitic" issue on campus, becoming the shortest-serving president in Harvard's history.
In her statement, Guy said she had witnessed tensions and divisions at the school in recent months weakening bonds of trust and raising doubts about her commitment to opposing hate and upholding academic rigor. After communicating with members of Harvard's Board of Trustees, she decided to step down as president, which was in the best interests of Harvard.
Gay was questioned in October for inappropriate citations in academic papers, but Harvard authorities issued a statement on December 12 saying that the conduct did not reach the level of "research misconduct." The main reason for Gaye's resignation is undoubtedly related to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
In the past three months, the smoke of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has been permeating American society in another form, tearing apart the collective perception, and Gay's resignation highlights that the so-called "political correctness" is frantically encroaching on the rationality and tolerance that higher education should have. Many U.S. colleges and universities, including Harvard University, have been pushed to the forefront by "anti-Semitic" activities on campus, and students have been quickly divided into "pro-Israeli" and "pro-Pakistan" camps, and tensions have escalated into confrontations, some of which have even escalated into violent conflicts. Against this backdrop, some people in the U.S. political and business circles seem to be pressuring the higher education community to take a so-called "correct and clear stance" on campus "anti-Semitism" activities.
On October 19 last year, 34 student organizations at Harvard University jointly issued an open letter, which became the target of public criticism because their stance was accused of being too pro-Pakistan. As a result, members of the group have been labeled as "anti-Semitic", personal information and even family information have been exposed by "doxing", and some Wall Street people have said that they will never hire members of the group.
On December 5, at a congressional hearing, when asked by lawmakers whether "the proposed genocide of Jews counts as serious harassment at Harvard," Gay replied "it depends." The presidents of MIT and the University of Pennsylvania, who were also present, did not give a clear "yes" or "no" answer. In fact, they all expressed their abhorrence of antisemitism, but refused to explicitly list antisemitic speech as a violation of campus norms.
This response, based on campus rules, is considered by some to be "politically incorrect." As a result, more than 70 members of the U.S. Congress signed a letter urging the three universities to remove their presidents because they failed to address the "anti-Semitic" turmoil on campus and "failed to manage the schools."
Members of Congress are not the only ones advocating the removal of the presidents of prestigious schools. Some of Harvard's alumni donors are also unhappy with the school's behavior in the "anti-Semitic" turmoil, and have warned that they may withdraw their donations. Billionaire hedge fund CEO Bill Ackerman said in an open letter to Harvard's Board of Trustees that because President Gay failed to enforce Harvard's rules, would Harvard consider her to continue in the position?
Although more than 700 faculty members at Harvard University signed a petition urging management to resist calls for Gaye's ouster, all came to no avail. Gay followed the University of Pennsylvania president Elizabeth Magill in the same "choice" to resign.
After Guy announced his resignation, U.S. Congressman Elsie Stefanik took to social media to make a high-profile "victory": three red sirens (representing the three principals) with the caption "Take two". Stefanik also publicly stated: "This hearing will have structural consequences and will be an earthquake in the higher education sector." ”
Such an "earthquake" has worried the higher education community. Khalil Gibran Mohammed, a professor of history, race and public policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School, said: "This is a terrible time. Republican members of Congress have declared war on the independence of colleges and universities, as Florida Gov. DeSantis has done. Guy's resignation only emboldened them. ”
In February 2023, an Advanced Placement course offered by the College Board to teach African-American history was blocked in Florida. The Florida government, led by conservative Republican DeSantis, has banned the curriculum from its schools on the grounds that it "inculcates political ideas in students and has no educational value."
Such an "earthquake" is even more reminiscent of the "McCarthyism" that caused the disaster. Although more than 60 years have passed since the McCarthy era, the "white terror" he created has not dissipated. Now, the ethnic hatred and social divisions surrounding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the United States have intensified, and Gay's conviction for his words shows that hysteria, bigotry, and irrationality are on the rise again.
Don’t wait for prosperity to care for the things important to you. The shadows of the trees on campus are swaying, and at a time when identity politics is prevalent in the United States, it is difficult to withstand the hurricane of "political correctness". In fact, when President Gay did not want to give the definitive answer to the question of "antisemitism" that some people wanted, her Harvard presidency was actually countdown.
Text/Yes Yuan is not a cloud, Ziyan Image source/Xinhua News Agency, Internet
Source: Guangming Daily, "Breaking the Circle" WeChat public account