By DEIfiying its recently hired and newly ousted president, Claudine Gay, Harvard University has destroyed its brand.
On December 15, 2022, the Harvard Corporation (fancy name for its board of trustees), led by billionaire Penny Pritzker, announced that it had selected Claudine Gay as its 30th president, its DEI (the woke, phony “diversity, equity, and inclusion”) president. The first black to hold this position, surprising because she’s never published a book and only about 11 articles, Gay began her job on July 1, 2023. Six months later, on January 2, 2024, Gay resigned under pressure and in disgrace, making her tenure the shortest in Harvard’s history.
What is DEI? In essence, it means exceptionally qualified whites, Asians, Jews, and men need not apply (In December 2023, American First Legal filed a lawsuit against IBM for purposely discriminating against whites and Asians). Because Claudine Gay is a black woman, therefore difficult to fire in our woke culture, regardless of any transgressions she may have committed, is committing, or will commit, Harvard doubled down on escalating her to god-like status.
After Hamas brutally attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, there were shocking outbreaks of antisemitism on campuses across America, especially at the Ivy League schools, which I call the Poison Ivy League schools. Consequently, the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce invited the presidents of Harvard (Claudine Gay), University of Pennsylvania (Elizabeth Magill), and MIT (Sally A. Kornbluth) to explain and justify the threats of genocide against Jewish students on their campuses. As you can see in my video below, each of the three presidents told Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY) that she would address such threats depending on the “context.” Seriously.
The immediate backlash, especially from donors, caused Liz Magill, who’s white, of UPenn to resign, four days after the hearing. As of this writing, MIT’s Kornbluth, who’s white, still is in her job.
But, Gay is black and remained in her job — a job she had only because she’s black. But, then, another wrinkle appeared: Christopher Rufo of City Journal and Aaron Sibarium of Free Beacon uncovered multiple incidents of Claudine Gay plagiarizing. Harvard had known about these disgraceful transgressions and weren’t about to fire her. But, because of billionaire Harvard alumnus Bill Ackman’s constant pressure, Gay finally resigned on January 2, 2024 — and, no surprise, will remain as a professor with her $879K annual salary intact.
In her pathetic resignation letter, Gay complained that, at her House “context” testimony, she was exposed to a well-laid trap. The only well-laid trap was applying for the presidency of Harvard as an unqualified DEI candidate, daring the woke trustees not to hire her. Harvard Corporation accepted her resignation “with sorrow” — and failed to rebuke her disgraceful Jew-hatred and plagiarizing, sending a strong signal of complicity to the world.
DEI, which amplifies antisemitism and promotes the unqualified, is why Harvard’s brand, which once exemplified super-status, is dead. DEI is why the Ivy brand is dead. DEI is why I coined the Poison Ivy League. DEIfying Claudine Gay ultimately destroyed her reputation and those of all who promoted her through the years.
Are YOU still planning to send YOUR children to Harvard?
POSTSCRIPT #1: Antisemitism Skyrockets at Harvard After Claudine Gay’s Departure — 01/10/24
POSTSCRIPT #2: Jewish Students Sue Harvard for Antisemitism — 01/11/24
© 2024 Marc H. Rudov. All Rights Reserved.
About the Author
Marc Rudov is a branding advisor to CEOs,
producer of MarcRudovTV, and author of four books
