‘Just the Beginning’: Conservatives Continue to Attack Woke Universities After Claudine Gay’s Harvard Resignation

The drama stemming from woke Ivy Leagues appears to be far from over, with conservatives stating that the resignations of the Harvard and University of Pennsylvania presidents amid antisemitism controversy are “just the beginning.”

Following Claudine Gay’s and Liz Magill’s departures as presidents from their respective schools after their controversial testimony on campus antisemitism, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) said, “Two down. One to go. Accountability is coming.”

Two down. One to go.

“Stefanik’s Devastating Hearing Questioning Claims Second Victim With Harvard President Claudine Gay’s Resignation”https://t.co/fORNpxVJgA

— Rep. Elise Stefanik (@RepStefanik) January 4, 2024

In additional statements to the Hill, the Republican congresswoman said, “The long overdue forced resignations of former Presidents Claudine Gay and Liz Magill are just the beginning of the tectonic consequences from their historic morally bankrupt testimony to my questions.”

Both Gay and Magill heeded calls for resignation after they, along with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) President Sally Kornbluth, failed to establish whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” violated their universities’ codes of conduct at a December 5 congressional hearing.

According to Stefanik, an official probe has been launched into the schools after the controversy snowballed into a conversation about diversity hires with the discovery of Gay’s alleged plagiarism. 

“The investigation will address all aspects of a fundamentally broken and corrupt higher education system — antisemitism on campus, taxpayer funded aid, foreign aid, DEI, accreditation, academic integrity, and governance,” she said, referring to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs (DEI).  

Conservatives cheered on the resignations of Gay and Magill and are demanding for Kornbluth to follow suit.

“Obviously it’s time for the equally unrepentant Sally Kornbluth of @MIT to go as well,” said author Jordan Peterson, alongside a City Journal report about DEI marching on at MIT.

Obviously it’s time for the equally unrepentant Sally Kornbluth of @MIT to go as well:

Or at least to grant her the “most foolishly timed announcement of the decade” award:@real_chrisrufo https://t.co/KBtIUUHaUA

— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) January 5, 2024

At least one MIT educator has already resigned over Kornbluth’s unsatisfactory testimony in which she claimed that nobody had used genocidal antisemitic phrases at her school — despite Jewish students reporting fearing for their lives after Hamas-sympathizers blocked entrances to a campus building, called for ethnic cleansing, and surrounded students holding Israeli flags.

One Jewish student told the Daily Signal that he is afraid of attending classes with “classmates and teachers who were just calling for my death—as the university did nothing.”

The departing MIT faculty member is Mauricio Karchmer, a former lecturer in the university’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

He wrote in a Wednesday LinkedIn announcement that the months since the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel “have been deeply disappointing.”

“It is with some sadness that I have decided to resign from my academic position at MIT,” Karchmer said. “These last five years have been very rewarding and I hope that I have made a meaningful difference in the education of my students.”

He continued on to criticize the university for its “hostility” towards Jewish and Israeli people:

During a time when the Jewish and Israeli students, staff and faculty were particularly vulnerable, instead of offering the support they needed, the broader MIT community exhibited open hostility towards them. Like many other college campuses nationwide, the institute clearly failed this test.

Some areas of study at MIT seem to prioritize promoting a specific worldview over teaching critical thinking skills. This seems to have been institutionalized in many of MIT’s departments and programs. 

MIT has some work to do if it wants to continue in its mission “to educate students in areas of scholarship to best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century”. 

“Kornbluth needs to go,” said Ilya Shapiro, director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute. 

Kornbluth needs to go. https://t.co/OSLsBZkdK5

— Ilya Shapiro (@ishapiro) January 3, 2024

Jay Greene, senior research fellow at the Center for Education Policy at the Heritage Foundation, told the Hill that “This is only among the very first steps on a very long road to recovering or returning to higher education its true and original purposes, which is truth-seeking.”

He added that he is hopeful “additional people are going to have to be removed, both leaders of universities and their underlings, because they’re also significant actors in this. It’s not just at the top, but it’s kind of throughout these institutions.” 

In addition, Green “specifically” called to dismantle DEI offices on campus, along with other leftist programs such as gender studies.

In multiple follow-up hearings, congressional Republicans have put forth new legislation that would “put more restrictions on universities,” the publication reported.

One of the new bills “would lower from $250,000 to $50,000 the amount of money received from foreign governments that would need to be disclosed to the Department of Education, as well as adding more contingencies on what would constitute a foreign gift.”

Republicans have also pledged to strip away taxpayer funding from universities that they determine are not doing enough to combat antisemitism.

DEI programs appear to be taking the hardest hits with the ongoing congressional investigation, with Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-TX) saying during a hearing that “colleges and universities have promoted antisemitic speech and behavior” via their DEI offices.

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