BUnder a U.S. Supreme Court order, Harvard University cannot consider race in its admissions decisions. Unfortunately for the Harvard Board of Trustees, this ruling does not apply to the selection of the university's president.
Like it or not, the selection of Harvard University's 31st president will inevitably be viewed by key stakeholders through the prism of identity politics — race, gender, religion — but given the diversity of perspectives and priorities, it's likely to be more significant. People will be more disappointed than pleased.
“Whatever direction the study takes, it will say something about how Harvard is responding to this political moment,” said Khalil Gibran Muhammad, a professor of history, race and public policy at Harvard's Kennedy School.
In the wake of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, some Harvard-affiliated schools believe the next leader should focus on combating anti-Semitism and protecting Jewish students on campus. , some believe this responsibility could best be carried out by a Jewish president.
Some are also looking for a woman of color to take the helm of the university for a full term after Claudine Gay's term was cut short following the relentless backlash over her handling of anti-Semitism on campus and mounting plagiarism allegations.
And as Harvard's credibility as a premier institution of higher learning has come under scrutiny in the wake of the plagiarism allegations, there is a growing belief that candidates with unimpeachable academic talent should be given priority above all else.
Muhammad said the choices the board makes “in terms of who that individual is and what racial and gender identity they bring to the role is going to send a signal whether the board wants to or not.”
“Strong public leader”
As Harvard's Board of Trustees considers candidates to permanently replace Gay at the helm of the university, it must decide which qualities to prioritize in a president.
While faculty, students and alumni are divided on the direction of the search process, several higher education experts said whoever becomes Harvard's next leader will have to be ready to face the same challenges that Gay faced as president.
The next president “can expect to see continued attacks on the whole concept of DEI and the need to clarify the value proposition,” said Paul Reville, a professor of education policy and administration at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Marianne Hirsch, a professor at Columbia University's Institute on Sexuality and Gender Studies, said the politically charged situation will likely prompt the board to seek someone with experience leading an institution of higher education.
“We are seeing presidents failing, or at least making mistakes, if not outright failing, in very important and significant ways,” Hirsch said. “At some universities, including my own, a lot of that has to do with lack of experience.”
In particular, the next president will face the challenge of healing a student body deeply divided over the war in Israel and Palestine. Interim University President Alan M. Garber '76 The university formed two presidential task forces in January to combat anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bigotry on campus, but members of both communities say more needs to be done.
The next president will need to demonstrate to the board that he or she has the experience and skills to bridge the gap on campus.
Harvard Hillel President Nathan B. Gershengorn, Class of 26, said in a statement that he hopes the next president will work to combat anti-Semitism on campus.
“Whoever the next president is, Harvard Hillel looks forward to working closely with them to protect Jewish students, respond to the needs of the Jewish community, and create a welcoming campus environment for all.” ” he wrote.
Reville said the plagiarism allegations against Gay may incentivize the board to choose a presidential candidate with the most academic integrity, but doing so will address broader challenges facing Harvard. said that it would not be considered.
“The tradition of selecting university leaders has always been to give great priority to top-tier scholarship and to assume that the people best suited to lead the university are first-rate scholars,” Revill said.
However, Professor Reville said that in today's world, academic qualifications alone “are not sufficient for the leadership that Harvard will need in the future.”
He added that Harvard will need “a strong public leader for the university, and therefore someone with extensive experience in public leadership.”
attack on diversity
Some of Gay's staunchest defenders argued that criticism of her only serves to discredit higher education institutions and cover up right-wing efforts to force the departure of Harvard's first black leader.
Hirsch said it's important to focus on the group of university presidents selected by the House Education and Labor Committee. Those invited to testify at the Dec. 5 hearing are Gay, former University of Pennsylvania President Elizabeth M. McGill and MIT President Sally A. Kornbluth.
“I don't know, or anyone knows, that they chose a female president, primarily a new president, to be the one to call Congress,” Hersh said.
While most of the questions from committee members concerned anti-Semitism on campus, some Republicans used their time to discuss the political and ideological make-up of students and faculty, sources of foreign funding, and diversity across universities. Pressured the chancellor on other issues, including initiatives to promote sexuality. institution.
Representative Elise M. Stefanik (New York, Class of 2006) and Representative Bill A. Ackman (Class of 1988) led a movement calling for Gay's resignation months before the Congressional hearing. did. While Gay's critics remained focused on her response to anti-Semitism on Harvard's campus and subsequent allegations of plagiarism in her scholarly work, many of those same critics also focused on the diversity at the university. , has also repeatedly used his platform to denounce commitments to equity and inclusion.
On December 7, two days after Mr. Gay's testimony, Mr. Ackman posted on He claimed to have heard that the government would not consider anyone. standard. (Ackman provided no evidence to support his claim.)
“Shrinking the pool of candidates based on required racial, gender, and sexual orientation criteria is not the right approach to identifying the best leaders for our most prestigious universities,” Ackman said. I wrote this. Those who win the office of president end up in positions they probably wouldn't have won if they hadn't kept their fingers firmly on the scale. ”
Some gay advocates took Ackman's post, and other comments like it, as evidence that criticism of DEI is at the heart of attacks against gay people.
“All of the key players, from Virginia Foxx to Elise Stefanik to Bill Ackman, have made clear in public statements that it was Claudine Gay's DEI efforts at Harvard, not anti-Semitism or plagiarism, that forced her to be fired,” Muhammad said.
In a New York Times op-ed after his resignation, Gay wrote that he believed his ouster was part of a campaign “about many universities and one leader.”
“I am mindful that I am creating an ideal canvas for projecting all the anxieties about the generational and demographic changes occurring on American campuses. A Black woman elected to lead a prestigious university. ,” Gay wrote.
position of strict surveillance
One of the biggest challenges the board may face is not whether it can find the right person for the university, but whether the presidential candidate believes Harvard is the right person for the board.
Gay's tenure showed that Harvard presidents are subject to personal attacks from a range of actors across the political spectrum, and he said he was frequently the target of virulent racism.
“Since my downfall, those who have relentlessly campaigned to oust me have often resorted to lies and ad hominem insults rather than logical arguments,” she wrote in a New York Times op-ed. “They have recycled well-worn racial stereotypes about black talent and temperament. They have pushed a false narrative of indifference and incompetence.”
“I've been called the N-word more times than I care to count,” Gay wrote.
Susanna Heschel, chair of Jewish studies at Dartmouth College, acknowledged the sexism that all women have to deal with, especially those in positions of power.
“Hopefully, whoever the next president is, he or she will have the capacity to not only address but effectively address sexism if they're a woman, racism if they're black, anti-Semitism if they're Jewish, or anti-Semitism if they're him,” Heschel added.
Muhammad said Harvard must protect its leadership and higher education from attacks on diversity and inclusion efforts in general, and in particular in the upcoming presidential election.
“Without a firm affirmation that the 'E' in DEI remains important to Harvard research, Harvard would, in effect, have caved in and capitulated to the false accusations of its critics,” Muhammad said.
—Staff writer Samantha D. Wu can be contacted at: Contact samantha.wu@thecrimson.com.
—Staff writer Summer Z. Sun can be reached at Summer.sun@thecrimson.com . Follow her on X summer vacation.
