Harvard tells House committee Claudine Gay's research conduct 'was not reckless nor intentional'
Harvard University told a House committee investigating the institution's response to the plagiarism allegations against Claudine Gay that its former president's conduct wasn't "reckless nor intentional."
Harvard University told a House committee investigating the institution’s response to the plagiarism allegations against Claudine Gay that its former president’s conduct wasn’t “reckless nor intentional.”
The Cambridge, Massachusetts institution is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce over its handling of allegations of plagiarism leveled at Gay. Harvard University turned over a nine-page document to the committee on Friday, detailing its handling of the allegations, according to Fox News Digital.
In response to an Oct. 24 request for comment from the New York Post which detailed allegations of plagiarism by Gay related to three published academic works, the university appointed a subcommittee comprised of members of the Harvard Corporation, which performed a review.
”While it required corrections, the Subcommittee determined that then-President Gay’s conduct was not reckless nor intentional and, therefore, did not constitute research misconduct as defined by the FAS Research Misconduct Policy,” the university wrote in its response.
[RELATED: Congress launches investigation into Harvard’s handling of Gay’s plagiarism problem]
A Dec. 12 from the Corporation statement reads that “the analysis found no violation of Harvard’s standards for research misconduct[.]”
According to the letter, Gay submitted corrections for two academic articles on Dec. 14.
”These allegations arose in a time of unprecedented events and tension on campus and globally. We worked to address relevant questions in a timely, fair, and diligent manner. We understand and acknowledge that many viewed our efforts as insufficiently transparent, raising questions regarding our process and standard of review,” Harvard told the House committee.
Several additional allegations of plagiarism were made in December, which included work that wasn’t already reviewed by the subcommittee. Gay resigned on Jan. 2.
Gay, however, remained as an employee of the university and earns close to $900,000, according to the New York Post.
[RELATED: ANALYSIS: Harvard president Claudine Gay is a hypocritical fraud]
Committee Chairwoman Rep. Dr. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., initiated the investigation on Dec. 20, writing in a letter to Harvard that ”An allegation of plagiarism by a top school official at any university would be reason for concern, but Harvard is not just any university.”
”Our concern is that standards are not being applied consistently, resulting in different rules for different members of the academic community. If a university is willing to look the other way and not hold faculty accountable for engaging in academically dishonest behavior, it cheapens its mission and the value of its education,” Foxx’s letter stated.
