Harvard University covered up an investigation into whether its president, Claudine Gay, plagiarized some of her academic work, the New York Post reported Tuesday.
The Post reported Harvard called in attorneys to protect Gay after the outlet reached out on Oct. 24, asking for comments on 27 instances of alleged potential plagiarism.
When first approached, the university said it needed time to review the 1993 article and her recent contributions in two peer-reviewed journals that were highlighted by the Post as concerning.
But days later, on Oct. 27, the Post said it was sent a letter by notable attorney Thomas Clare of northern Virginia, who said he was defamation counsel for Harvard and Gay.
The news was not present in the Harvard Corporation's letter, which initially announced that an independent investigation went on in October and was finally reviewed by the board members Dec. 9.
However, Gay and the university's legal counsel reached out to the Post over a week before the investigation was presented to the board, calling into question the true "independence" of the review.
The charges of plagiarism were first popularized by conservative activists Christopher F. Rufo and Christopher Brunet in a Substack article on Dec. 10, which called into question Gay's 1997 doctoral dissertation.
One day later, The Washington Free Beacon identified additional potential instances of plagiarism, claiming that Gay paraphrased or quoted nearly 20 authors without proper attribution in the papers reviewed.
Gay has also come under fire for her refusal to pledge to univocally punish calls for violence against Jewish people on campus at a House hearing last week alongside two other university presidents.
She has since apologized for her choice of words. One of the other presidents, Liz Magill of the University of Pennsylvania, has resigned.
As of now, Harvard has decided not to pursue Gay's ouster despite the concerns.
Luca Cacciatore ✉
Luca Cacciatore, a Newsmax general assignment writer, is based in Arlington, Virginia, reporting on news and politics.
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