Harvard alum says university needs 'hard reset,' move away from 'political agendas' after Gay's exit

A Harvard alumnus said the Ivy League university needs a "hard reset" to go back to being a center of academic excellence after the resignation of president Claudine Gay on Tuesday.

"Harvard very much needs a hard reset," Jonathan Harounoff, the director of communications at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), told Fox News Digital. "It should focus less on advancing political agendas, and it should focus more on returning to being the center of academic and intellectual excellence."

Gay resigned after facing several plagiarism accusations and severe blowback for her performance during a congressional hearing on antisemitism on college campuses. 

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Harvard University alumnus Jonathan Harounoff told Fox News Digital that the Ivy League institution needs a "hard reset" to restore its academic excellence after the resignation of President Claudine Gay. (Fox News Digital)

More instances of plagiarism by Gay were uncovered earlier this week, after several were brought forth last month, which put the total number of plagiarism allegations near 50. 

In addition to the plagiarism accusations, Gay was facing a growing number of donors pulling back their donations to Harvard over her inability to answer whether calling for the genocide of Jews violated campus policy. 

"[Harvard] should distance itself away from all of these political agendas that have got it into trouble," Harounoff, who was a Harvard graduate student, said.

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Amid the controversy, applications for the school have dropped about 17% from last year. 

Applications were due on Nov. 1, before Gay’s testimony during a congressional hearing, but after the Oct. 7 terror attack in Israel which sparked a tense climate on campus. 

A Harvard spokesperson sent Fox News Digital a statement citing the recent SCOTUS ruling impacting affirmative action measures as a potential impact on the drop in applications. Additionally, the spokesperson provided data showing that the school is above pre-pandemic levels of applications.

The property 16 Sumner Road is seen in Cambridge, Mass. Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. The home is believed to have been used by embattled Harvard president Claudine Gay before stepping down from her leadership position after plagiarism, antisemitism scandals.  (Hans Pennink for Fox News Digital)

Harounoff said that the entire episode jeopardized Harvard’s standing as a "world-leading institution of enlightenment and learning." He went on to question the Harvard Corporation's support for Gay. 

The Harvard Corporation is the high governing body at Harvard and the smaller and more powerful of the university's two governing boards. It consists of the president of the university and 11 fellows.  

Despite finding instances of "inadequate citation" and "duplicative language" the Harvard Corporation stood by the embattled president in Dec.

"It makes you wonder just how unanimous that support was for Claudine Gay among members of Harvard's top governing body. Because to go from everyone pledging unanimous support on December 12th, 2 to 3 weeks later, including Gay resigning, that's quite a drastic shift," Harounoff said.

When Gay resigned Jan. 2, the Harvard Corporation shared its "great sadness" over the move and "thanked" Gay for her leadership and "commitment to academic excellence."

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In a letter to members of the Harvard community, Gay said she was stepping down as president but would return to the Harvard faculty despite widespread plagiarism allegations against her. 

Prior to her resignation, a truck on Harvard's campus demanded President Claudine Gay be fired for her handling of antisemitism on campus.  (Fox News Digital )

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"I think the person who should be president of Harvard should be the person who is most qualified and most accomplished to do the job. And Harvard now needs a leader who can unambiguously condemn hatred in any form that's directed at any group of students or people," Harounoff said. "So I very much hope that the next person embodies all of those values so that Harvard can return to being this fantastic place of learning and a motto that I'm proud to have been alongside other students."

Gay was Harvard's first Black president and began her tenure in July 2023.