The Debate That Claudine Gay Is Evading
Welcome to Up for Debate. Each week, Conor Friedersdorf rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Later, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here.
Question of the Week
If you could question leaders of academic institutions under oath, like a member of Congress, forcing them to contend with any aspect of higher education in America, what would you ask them?
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Conversations of Note
On Tuesday, Claudine Gay resigned as Harvard’s president. She had been under pressure to go due to allegations of plagiarized passages in her published scholarship––academic misconduct that was flogged in recent days by longtime critics opposed to her for unrelated reasons. (Gay defended her academic record in an op-ed published Wednesday.)
What is at the core of that bigger conflict?
“My hope is that by stepping down,” Gay in , “I will deny demagogues the opportunity to further weaponize my presidency
