Ex-Harvard President Claudine Gay reveals downfall of once respected 'elite institutions', WSJ argues

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The Wall Street Journal editorial board criticized ex-Harvard President Claudine Gay for ignoring "substantive criticism of her leadership and failure to punish antisemitism" on campus and blaming others for her downfall. 

But instead of admitting any fault in her resignation, Gay and her allies have doubled down on leftist dogma, The Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote on Thursday. 

"Claudine Gay’s resignation as president of Harvard might seem like a ripe moment for introspection at America’s institutions of higher learning," the editorial board wrote. "Alas, they seem to be circling the progressive wagons instead."

HARVARD PRESIDENT CLAUDINE GAY RESIGNS AMID ANTISEMITISM, PLAGIARISM CONTROVERSIES

The Wall Street Journal editorial board criticized ex-Harvard President Claudine Gay for ignoring "substantive criticism of her leadership and failure to punish antisemitism" on campus and blaming others for her downfall.  (Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire/Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Haiyun Jiang/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"The real lesson of Ms. Gay’s resignation is that too much of the American academy has abandoned its core mission of learning and free inquiry in favor of political indoctrination," the editorial board concluded. "In other words, it has abandoned the classical liberal tradition that earned it public respect over decades. That respect won’t return until these institutions return to that mission."

The Wall Street Journal bashed elite institutions in American society, with Harvard as just one example, for undermining "their own credibility and fuel[ing] public cynicism."

Those "elite institutions," the editorial board continued, have chosen to look down on and demean "half of the country that doesn’t share their views" as being "racist," bigoted or "anti-science." 

That strategy has resulted in a general loss of faith in elite institutions, the Journal added, also responding directly to Gay's op-ed in her defense in The New York Times. 

LIBERAL COLLEGE PROFESSORS RALLY AROUND HARVARD'S CLAUDINE GAY AFTER RESIGNATION: 'FASCIST MOUTH-BREATHERS'

After resigning as Harvard president on Tuesday, Claudine Gay took to the New York Times to call out "coordinated efforts" to attack her, some of which she characterized as racist.  (Getty Images)

After resigning as Harvard president on Tuesday, Claudine Gay took to the New York Times to call out "coordinated efforts" to attack her, some of which she characterized as racist. 

In her guest essay, titled "What Just Happened at Harvard Is Bigger Than Me," Gay explained that the attempts to oust her since her congressional testimony were not efforts against her but against the institution of education itself. 

She continued, "Trusted institutions of all types — from public health agencies to news organizations — will continue to fall victim to coordinated attempts to undermine their legitimacy and ruin their leaders’ credibility. For the opportunists driving cynicism about our institutions, no single victory or toppled leader exhausts their zeal."

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Fox News' Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.