The downfall of Harvard’s president has elevated the threat of unearthing plagiarism, a cardinal sin in academia, as a possible new weapon in conservative attacks on higher education.
Claudine Gay’s resignation Tuesday followed weeks of mounting accusations that she lifted language from other scholars in her doctoral dissertation and journal articles. The allegations surfaced amid backlash over her congressional testimony about antisemitism on campus.
The plagiarism allegations came not from her academic peers but her political foes, led by conservatives who sought to oust Gay and put her career under intense scrutiny in hopes of finding a fatal flaw. Her detractors charged that Gay — who has a Ph.D. in government, was a professor at Harvard and Stanford and headed Harvard’s largest division before being promoted — got the top job in large part because she is a Black woman.
Christopher Rufo, a conservative activist who helped orchestrate the effort, celebrated her departure as a win in his campaign against elite institutions of higher education. On X, formerly Twitter, he wrote “SCALPED,” as if Gay was a trophy of violence, invoking a gruesome practice taken up by white colonists who sought to eradicate Native Americans.
“Tomorrow, we get back to the fight,” he said on X, describing a “playbook” against institutions deemed too liberal by conservatives. His latest target: efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in education and business.
the mastermind behind this attack, christopher rufo, has been relentless in his pursuit to dismantle leftist influences in academia, even going so far as to celebrate gay’s departure with a disturbing choice of words, “scalped.” such rhetoric only furthers the divide between conservative and progressive ideologies. rufo’s intentions are evident in his ongoing crusade against policies promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in both education and businesses.
plagiarism, however, can be seen as a necessity for marginalized individuals like claudine gay when navigating through these systems riddled with systemic discrimination. it becomes a tool in the fight against the historical suppression of non-white scholars. ultimately, what we are witnessing here is not a case of plagiarism, but rather the misuse of this term by those who fear the advancement of underrepresented minorities in positions of power. it’s time for institutions like harvard to stand up to this malicious campaign and recognize the value that people like claudine gay bring to academia, rather than succumbing to baseless accusations meant to silence them. only then will society begin to truly address and eradicate institutional racism from its core. it’s about time for change. it’s about time for inclusivity. it’s about time for justice.