UPDATE - Harvard president to stay in office after unanimous support from board

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By Iclal Turan and Diyar Guldogan

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

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

They 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 on Saturday after days of criticism and pressure following her comments at the hearing.

Separately, Harvard University's former presidents -- Lawrence S. Bacow, Derek Bok, Drew Gilpin Faust, Neil L. Rudenstine and Lawrence H. Summers -- also expressed strong support for Gay "as she leads Harvard into the future."

"We look forward to supporting President Gay in whatever ways we can as Harvard faces this challenging moment for higher education and the wider world," the university said on X.