Clamor over Claudine Gay’s Harvard resignation: Letters to the Editor — Jan. 6, 2024

The Issue: Claudine Gay’s decision to step down from Harvard leadership, and the resulting aftermath.

With the reluctant resignation of embattled Harvard President Clau­d­ine Gay, a sordid chapter at this once-august university’s history has drawn to a close (“Academic frauds show true colors,” Douglas Murray, Jan. 5).

Regrettably, Gay went out on a decidedly low note, blaming her departure on the forces of racism and right-wing extremism. There was no contrition. No conciliatory tones. None of the sensibilities that would normally be expected of a university leader.

Through it all, Gay remained smug, arrogant and blithely oblivious to just how artless, tone-deaf and ignorant she sounded. Witnessing her unseemly lack of awareness, I was immediately reminded of an apt quote from famed American educator Amos Bronson Alcott, who many years ago said: “To be ignorant of one’s ignorance is the malady of the ignorant.”

Michael J. DiStefano

Jamestown