Members of Congress ripped into Harvard President Claudine Gay after she apologized for remarks made during a House committee hearing that critics said failed to adequately condemn antisemitism and threats against Jewish students on the Ivy League campus.
“I am sorry. Words matter.” Gay said during a Thursday interview with The Harvard Crimson. “When words amplify distress and pain, I don’t know how you could feel anything but regret.”
On Tuesday, Gay sat before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce to discuss antisemitism and threats against Jewish students on Harvard’s campus.
During an exchange with Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., Gay was asked whether calling for the genocide of Jews on campus violates the university’s codes of conduct related to bullying and harassment.
Some members of Congress dismissed Harvard President Claudine Gay’s apology, calling it “hollow” and suggesting that she should be fired. (Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire/Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Haiyun Jiang/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Gay was repeatedly pressed to give a yes or no answer and, each time, said that Harvard’s response would depend on the “context” of the conduct.
Following her apology, Gay was criticized by legislators on social media.
“No, Dr. Gay. You were given an opportunity to speak your truth. And you did,” Stefanik said on X. “Not once. Not twice. Not 5x. Not 10x.
In total, Gay was asked 17 times in the hearing whether calls for genocide against Jews violate the university’s code of conduct.
“You spoke your truth under oath 17x and the world heard it,” Stefanik added.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., also criticized Gay’s apology, suggesting the only answer to Stefanik’s questions should have been a resounding “yes.”
Dr. Claudine Gay, President of Harvard University, testifies before the House Education and Workforce Committee at the Rayburn House Office Building on December 05, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“But you wanted to know the context of how one might exterminate Jews,” Moskowitz added. “You should all be fired! Appreciate the apology.”
In her apology with the Crimson, Gay attempted to clarify her testimony, claiming she got “caught up” in the “extended, combative exchange” with Stefanik.
“What I should have had the presence of mind to do in that moment was return to my guiding truth, which is that calls for violence against our Jewish community — threats to our Jewish students — have no place at Harvard and will never go unchallenged. Substantively, I failed to convey what is my truth,” she added.
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Her initial remarks during the hearing have led to significant fallout. The House Committee on Education and the Workforce has announced an official investigation into antisemitism at Harvard and Rabbi David Wolpe resigned from an advisory group created to tackle threats against Jews that Gay had established in November.
Gay’s apology also drew the attention of Rep. Kevin Riley, R-Calif., who wrote on social media that the Harvard president’s answers to Congress were “deeply troubling.”
“This apology rings hollow. Harvard needs new leadership,” he said.
