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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Hundreds of Harvard University faculty members signed a letter Sunday in support of school President Claudine Gay, as she faces calls to resign over her testimony at a Congressional hearing on antisemitism.
During the hearing, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) asked "Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Harvard's rules of bullying and harassment? Yes or no?" Gay responded, "It can be, depending on the context."
The letter said that the calls to oust Gay are political, and are "at odds with Harvard's commitment to academic freedom." It went on to say that the "critical work of defending a culture of free inquiry in our diverse community cannot proceed if we let its shape be dictated by outside forces."
Gay apologized last week for her comments during the hearing. In an interview with the Harvard Crimson, Gay said "When words amplify distress and pain, I don't know how you could feel anything but regret."
Meanwhile, Rabbi David Wolpe announced his resignation last week from Harvard's antisemitism advisory committee. "[Both] events on campus and the painfully inadequate testimony reinforced the idea that I cannot make the sort of difference I had hoped," he wrote in a social media post.
Over the weekend, University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill resigned following her testimony at the same Congressional hearing. Rep. Stefanik had also asked Magill if calling for the genocide of Jews violated her school's code of conduct. Magill also responded that it depended on the context.
After Magill resigned, Rep. Stefanik wrote on social media, "One down. Two to go."
MIT President Sally Kornbluth, who was one of the three university presidents to testify, was asked the same question by Rep. Stefanik. Kornbluth said she has "not heard calling for the genocide of Jews" on her campus, and that some speech "can be antisemitic depending on the context when calling for the elimination of Jewish people."
WBZ NewsRadio's James Rojas (@JamesRojasMMJ) reports:
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