House committee accuses Harvard of obstructing antisemitism probe
The House Education and Workforce Committee has subpoenaed Harvard University for allegedly obstructing an antisemitism investigation. The accusations stem from the congressional testimony of now former Harvard President Claudine Gay in a exchange with Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.
Gay’s congressional testimony prompted other investigations, including one accusing her of plagiarizing portions of her work for the duration of her academic career. That investigation eventually led to Gay’s resignation.
House Republicans said Harvard had an “unacceptable” response to the committee’s request for information on antisemitic attacks on campus. The committee wants to see the university’s documentation of all anti-Jewish incidents on campus for the past three years in order to examine how Harvard addresses Jewish students’ concerns.
Harvard said it already complied to the request, handing over 3,500 pages related to the inquiry. The committee called the materials incomplete and issued the subpoena calling for full documentation.
The subpoena is asking for documents and communications related to the alleged harassment of Jewish students at a “die-in” protest, pro-Palestinian protests and a week-long anti-Israeli campaign on campus.
“Harvard’s continued failure to satisfy the committee’s requests is unacceptable,” Education Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C. said. “I will not tolerate delay and defiance of our investigation while Harvard’s Jewish students continue to endure the firestorm of antisemitism that has engulfed its campus.”
After receiving the subpoena, Harvard reiterated that antisemitism has no place in the university’s community, but also voiced concerns over protecting the privacy of its community.
“While the subpoenas were unwarranted, Harvard remains committed to cooperating with the committee and will continue to provide additional materials, while protecting the legitimate privacy, safety and security concerns of our community,” a Harvard spokesperson said.
The university has until March 4 to respond to the committee with a more thorough response.
AP walks back reporting on Harvard plagiarism scandal after backlash
In journalism, the Associated Press and the AP Stylebook are used to determine proper terminology and standards in reporting. Media conglomerates also partner with the AP to share their work. The AP, however, edited a recent headline and report, admitting they were incorrect and saying their story “didn’t meet their own standards.”
The original version of the article was titled “Harvard president’s resignation highlights new conservative weapon against colleges: plagiarism,” referencing the resignation of Harvard President Dr. Claudine Gay.
The headline, along with some of the sentences within the article’s body, have since been edited after the AP received backlash over calling “plagiarism” a “new conservative weapon.”
The new headline removes the word “weapon,” but keeps the premise that a “conservative attack” helped to fan “outrage” over alleged plagiarism in Gay’s scholarly work.
Harvard’s former President Claudine Gay resigned following Congressional testimony about antisemitism on the campus and plagiarism accusations related to Gay’s scholarship.
A conservative news outlet, The Washington Free Beacon, was the first to report dozens of “long stretches” in Gay’s published works that duplicated other works. A Harvard committee confirmed the accusations.
Users on X, formerly Twitter, took issue with the way AP characterized the president’s resignation and capitalized on a conservative effort to have her removed.
https://twitter.com/AP/status/1742455903264129474
A “Community Note” label was added to AP’s post on X sharing the article, allowing users to offer context to the post. Readers added context, saying:
“Plagiarism is a breach of rules for Harvard University.”
“There were a ‘series of breaches.’”
Plagiarism “cannot be considered a weapon.”
“They buried the lede,” a Washington Post columnist said. “The GOP stole this weapon from colleges, which for years punished people for plagiarism with little to no input from conservatives.”
“It’s remarkable that conservatives with, with all the pouncing and seizing they do, had the time to invent the concept of plagiarism over the last couple of months,” CNN Political Commentator Scott Jennings posted on X.
Portions in the body of the article were changed in an attempt to remove bias.
The Associated Press highlighted a conservative activist’s post on X that used the phrase “scalped” referring to Gay’s removal, saying the user was acting “as if Gay was a trophy of violence, invoking a gruesome practice taken up by white colonists who sought to eradicate Native Americans.”
The AP later added in context that it wasn’t only used by white colonists.
In recent years, Stanford University and the University of South Carolina changed leadership due to plagiarism allegations. According to the AP’s report, this leadership change is different, as Claudine Gay was Harvard’s first Black president.
In the article, the AP cited Walter Kimbrough — a former president at a historically Black college — who said, “As a Black person in academia, you always have to be twice, three times as good.”
The Associated Press still sets the standard for journalists across the country. According to AllSides, which provides media bias ratings for over 1,400 media outlets, Associated Press reporting displays left-leaning bias.
Senior Hamas leader killed in blast in Lebanon: The Morning Rundown, Jan. 3, 2024
A top Hamas leader is killed in Lebanon, sparking concerns the war in the Middle East could expand. And former President Donald Trump is appealing a ruling in Maine barring him from the ballot. These stories and more highlight The Morning Rundown for Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024.
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Hamas and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah have confirmed the death of a top Hamas leader Wednesday morning, Jan. 3, during an explosion in the suburbs of Beirut. The groups blame Israel for the attack, raising concerns about the war between Hamas and Israel expanding in the region.
Saleh al-Arouri and six others, including two Hamas commanders, were killed in the strike on Tuesday, Jan. 2. A spokesperson for the Iranian-backed Hezbollah told the Washington Post the attack involved a drone armed with three rockets.
Lebanon Prime Minister Najib Mikati called the explosion a crime that was meant to “drag Lebanon into a new phase of confrontation with Israel.” Israel has declined to comment on the attack. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, Israeli military’s chief spokesman, said in a televised news briefing that Israeli forces were on “very high alert on all fronts for defensive and offensive actions.” He stressed Israel was “focused on fighting Hamas.”
Harvard President Claudine Gay resigns amid plagiarism, antisemitism scandals
Alan Garber, Harvard’s provost and chief academic officer, will serve as interim president. Gay is the second university president to resign following the Dec. 5 congressional hearing; UPenn President Liz Magill resigned four days later. Read our full report on Gay’s resignation here.
More allegations of bribery against Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez
Prosecutors allege that Menendez helped a New Jersey developer, Fred Daibes, get a multimillion-dollar investment from a Qatar-based company that prosecutors said is tied to the royal family, according to the indictment. Menendez has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and his lawyers responded to the recent indictment by saying the new allegations “stink of desperation.”
Back in September, Menendez was indicted on bribery charges; prosecutors said he and his wife pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes that included cash, gold bars, payments toward a home mortgage, and luxury car payments, among others listed in the original indictment. Menendez has stepped down as Foreign Relations chair but remains on the committee; his trial is scheduled for May 2024. His trial is set for May.
Trump appeals Maine ruling barring him from 2024 ballot
Trump’s team has appealed bellow’s ruling, alleging she is “biased” urging the courts to vacate her ruling. Bellows told NPR in a recent interview that her personal view played no role in the decision and that she has a duty to uphold the Constitution. Trump is expected to appeal a similar ruling in Colorado after the state Supreme Court ruled to keep him off the ballot; the Colorado Republican Party has already appealed that ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. Both decisions have been paused as the appeals play out in court, meaning Trump’s name will remain on the ballot for now.
Haley, DeSantis to debate on CNN; Trump to hold Fox News town hall
Only two Republican candidates will participate in the final debate before the Iowa caucuses: former South Carolina Governor and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. CNN, the network hosting the Jan. 10 debate, announced on Tuesday, Jan. 2, that Haley and DeSantis, along with former President Donald Trump, have qualified for the Iowa debate.
However, Trump is skipping the debate again and participating in counter programming. The current GOP frontrunner, citing his commanding lead in the polls for his reasons not to join in the debates, will hold a town hall in Iowa airing on Fox News instead. The network said the town hall will focus on “leading issues facing voters ahead of the Iowa caucus.”
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, who appeared in the last debate, did not meet CNN’s qualifications. A second CNN GOP debate is scheduled for Jan. 21 in New Hampshire ahead of that state’s primary.
Box office sales reach $9 billion for 2023
2023 wasn’t a record-breaking year at the box office, but things are looking better for the movie industry following a slowdown during the pandemic. Ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada reached $9 billion in 2023, the first time in years. According to data firm Comscore, box office sales were up 21% from 2022, but it fell short by about $2 billion from pre-pandemic sales.
There were about 20 fewer wide releases in 2023 than in 2019, with some top films being pushed back due to writer and actor strikes. However, some very popular movies throughout the year were able to push the box office totals to the $9 billion mark, including Barbie, Oppenheimer, and Taylor Swift, the Era’s Tour concert film.
Harvard President Claudine Gay resigns amid ongoing controversy
Harvard President Claudine Gay resigned on Tuesday, Jan. 2, marking the shortest presidency in the university’s history since its founding in 1636. Gay’s tenure lasted just six months and two days long.
“It is with a heavy heart but a deep love for Harvard that I write to share that I will be stepping down as president,” Gay wrote in her resignation letter.
Gay has faced criticism for her comments to Congress regarding Harvard protests of the war in Gaza and accusations of antisemitism on campus. Accusations of plagiarism in her academic papers also surround her.
AP Images
“It has been distressing to have doubt cast on my commitments to confronting hate and upholding scholarly rigor — two bedrock values that are fundamental to who I am,” Gay said.
The Harvard Corporation, one of the two governing boards for the university, issued a statement expressing gratitude for her tenure as president and acknowledging her decision to step down and resume her faculty position.
Currently, Gay serves as the director of Graduate Studies for Harvard. She is also a professor of Government and of African-American Studies.
Alan Garber, the provost and chief academic officer, will assume the role of interim president until the appointment of a new leader.
Harvard president faces more plagiarism allegations, House expands investigation
Harvard University President Claudine Gay is facing more pressure to resign following fresh plagiarism allegations. First, critics called for her resignation after her testimony on antisemitism sparked a House investigation into the university. Gay now faces new plagiarism accusations.
Harvard’s top governing board is aware of the president missing proper citations in several published articles, but the board said those instances don’t meet the threshold for “research misconduct.”
The board has said it unanimously stands by its president, as it did following Congressional testimony when Dr. Gay would not say “calls for genocide” went against the school’s code of conduct.
The most recent review did not consider alleged plagiarism in her dissertation as a Ph.D. student.
The Washington Free Beacon independently reviewed four papers published by Gay between 1993 and 2017, including her doctoral dissertation. Its review found Gay “paraphrased or quoted nearly 20 authors without proper attribution more than 40 times.”
School officials said Gay will now submit three revisions to her 1997 dissertation after she left out “important quotations and citations” in her work.
Following the latest allegations, the House will expand its existing investigation into the university.
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce has begun a review of Harvard’s handling of the plagiarism accusations.
The committee chair sent a letter to Harvard’s governing board asking for all documents and communications concerning the president’s alleged plagiarism. The chair also requested a list of typical disciplinary actions the university uses when they find a faculty member or student guilty of plagiarism.
