
Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz is asking Harvard President Claudine Gay to abide by her own standards and resign after her disastrous remarks during a hearing on antisemitism last week Tuesday.
Dershowitz drew parallels between Gay’s issue and then-Winthrop House Faculty Dean Ron Sullivan, who was forced out of his position due to backlash from representing Harvey Weinstein in court.
At the time, Gay had participated in the backlash Sullivan received and supported the push for him to be ousted from his position.
Dershowitz recalled, “When she was the Dean of the faculty, she fired Ron Sullivan, who was the Dean of one of the colleges, because he, for one month, represented Weinstein. And then she said, he didn’t satisfactorily explain and justify what he had done to the students. And she said a dean has to be more than just a teacher, he has to be a pastor and has to understand the fears of the students. And he was fired, not because he did anything wrong, but because students were afraid under his deanship.”
Now, the law professor said that students are afraid under Gay’s presidency after her remarks which made her stance on antisemitism clear. She had said during the hearing before members of Congress that calls for the genocide of Jews only violate Harvard’s policy if the “speech crosses into conduct.”
Now, Dershowitz maintains that “students are afraid under her presidency. … And by her own standards, by the standards she imposed on a Dean, Dean Ron Sullivan, she has to leave.”
During the interview, Dershowitz also attacked Harvard’s attempt to sweep genocidal calls under freedom of speech. “Free speech died at Harvard a long time ago,” he stated, pointing to Harvard’s bottom position on FIRE’s ranking of about 250 universities based on free speech.
“They only proclaim free speech for those who advocate genocide against the Jews. These are not advocates of free speech. These are advocates of free speech for me but not for thee,” Dershowitz added.
The professor’s interview comes amid growing calls for Gay’s resignation as well as that of Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Sally Kornbluth whose testimony as well that of University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill were similarly disturbing. Magill has already yielded to the calls and resigned even though she will be retaining her position until the school appoints a new interim president.
Breaking news: University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill has stepped down after criticism for what many called an inadequate response to questions about whether calls for the genocide of Jewish people would violate university policies. https://t.co/3TuIr948PO
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 9, 2023