Harvard president to stay in office after unanimous support from board

By Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - Harvard President Claudine Gay will remain in office after getting unanimous support from the school's highest governing body, the university announced Tuesday.

“As members of the Harvard Corporation, we today reaffirm our support for President Gay’s continued leadership of Harvard University," it said in a statement, adding that Gay is the right leader to "help our community heal and to address the very serious societal issues we are facing."

"In this tumultuous and difficult time, we unanimously stand in support of President Gay," it said.

"At Harvard, we champion open discourse and academic freedom, and we are united in our strong belief that calls for violence against our students and disruptions of the classroom experience will not be tolerated," it said. "Harvard’s mission is advancing knowledge, research, and discovery that will help address deep societal issues and promote constructive discourse, and we are confident that President Gay will lead Harvard forward toward accomplishing this vital work."

It came as fallout continues from last week when three US college presidents -- University of Pennsylvania’s Liz Magill, Gay and Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sally Kornbluth -- testified before Congress on antisemitic incidents on their campuses.

The presidents expressed their commitment to combat all forms of hatred and an increase in Islamophobia and hatred toward Muslims.

For hours, they answered questions on antisemitism, disciplinary activities against students, how universities represent different opinions and campus security.

Magill resigned Saturday after days of criticism and pressure following her comments at the hearing.