Arizona Republicans Agree with Harvard's Claudine Gay Resigning

U.S. Capitol

Claudine Gay, President of Harvard University, became a fixture of national news after her appearance in a Congressional hearing in December and evidence she had plagiarized her academic work. Amidst the pressure, Gay recently announced her resignation, prompting reactions from Arizona's Republicans.

Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ) called Gay's resignation "the right move" and suggested more should step down because they "have gone full-on woke and harbor anti-Semitism on campuses."

Representative Debbie Lesko (R-AZ) proclaimed "It's about time! Anyone condoning violence against Jewish people or any other group of people has no business working in academia around impressionable young people."

Senate candidate Kari Lake (R) said Gay should have been fired after her Congressional hearing early in December, where she infamously said calls for the genocide of Jews "depends on the context" whether or not they violated Harvard's speech codes. Her remarks earned sharp condemnation from Florida Democrat Representative Jared Moskowitz, who said Harvard and other Ivy League schools "continue to fail."

Additionally, Lake said America's colleges and universities must "do some soul-searching" and that "Our students deserve better than indoctrination, hate, and antisemitism being taught on college campuses."

Furthermore, she said if elected Senator in 2024, Lake would "give heavy scrutiny to the amount of federal funding these woke indoctrination centers are receiving."

Gay, MIT's Dr. Sally Kornbluth, and UPenn's Liz Magill received condemnation in a bipartisan resolution after the hearing, which also called for their resignations. Magill was first to step down just days after the hearing, while Gay held out for several weeks. Dr. Kornbluth currently remains serving as MIT's president.

Further pressure for Gay to resign came after evidence suggested she had plagiarized portions of her academic work. Harvard's perceived lenience toward Gay for plagiarism compared to the punishments students face for similar offenses received derision as a double standard.

Grayson Bakich

Florida born and raised, Grayson Bakich is a recent recipient of a Master’s Degree in Political Science at the University of Central Florida. His thesis examined recent trends in political polarization and how this leads into justification of violence.