Claudine Gay’s tenure as president of Harvard ended following her resignation in early 2024. Gay faced intense scrutiny in December 2023 for her handling of anti-Semitism on campus. “It has become clear that it is in Harvard’s best interest for him to resign, so that the community can meet this moment of extraordinary challenge by focusing on the institution and not the individual,” Gay said in a statement.
Claudine Gay is the daughter of Haitian immigrants who met in New York City.
Claudine Gay was born in New York City to Haitian immigrants. Gay’s parents met in New York City when they were students and started a family. She spent her childhood in the city before moving to Saudi Arabia, where her father worked as an engineer for the US military. Following the announcement that Ella Gay would assume the presidency of Harvard, she referred to her parents’ insistence on a good education:
“My parents believed that education opens all doors, but of course they gave me three options: I could become an engineer, a doctor or a lawyer, something I’m sure other children of immigrant parents could relate to. Becoming an academic was not what my parents had in mind.”
Gay was the first person of color named president of the institution. Harvard student Afomia Hunde said CBS News It was sad to see Gay resign: “It was good to have someone from a similar situation [ethnicity] to represent. That she was president of Harvard was momentous and historic, and it saddens me that she felt the need to resign.”
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn