Claudine Gay and the Imperative of Black Institutions

We must go where we are celebrated not just tolerated

Claudine Gay stepped down as president of Harvard University after testifying before Congress on her responses to antisemitism on campus and accusations of plagiarism.

Gay was the first Black person and only the second woman to serve as president of Harvard in its history—founded in 1636, the university is the oldest in the nation.

Gay’s resignation comes as a combination of attacks on her credibility as a scholar and from the sharp divisions in perspectives on the violence in Israel and Palestine.

One can debate the wisdom of her remarks to Congress and the merits of the plagiarism allegations, but the abrupt end of her tenure also highlights another issue— the imperative of Black-led and Black-centered institutions.