In a recent development, Harvard University has shared new details regarding the ongoing investigation into plagiarism allegations against its former president, Claudine Gay. The university stated that an independent body was appointed after an initial review substantiated some of the complaints, leading to a recommendation for a broader examination.

Harvard disclosed that it first learned about the plagiarism accusations against Claudine Gay, its first Black female president, on October 24 when contacted by a New York Post reporter. To address the allegations, the university reached out to various authors whom Gay was accused of plagiarizing. Surprisingly, none of them objected to her language, according to Harvard.

Subsequently, an independent body was appointed to investigate two articles written by Gay in 2012 and 2017. The panel concluded that both articles were "sophisticated and original," with little evidence of intentional claiming of others' findings. However, it did identify nine out of the 25 allegations raised by the Post as concerning. These allegations consisted of paraphrased or reproduced language without sufficient crediting of sources. Additionally, the panel found a single instance where Gay's writing contained fragments of duplicative language and paraphrasing, which could be misinterpreted as taking credit for someone else's work, although there was no evidence of intentional misconduct.

Furthermore, the investigation uncovered that another paper written by Gay during her first year in graduate school contained identical language to previously published works. These findings prompted a broader review of Gay's work by a Harvard subcommittee. As a result, Gay made corrections to her 2012 article, along with a 2001 article that emerged during the broader review. In its findings presented to the Harvard Corporation on December 9, the subcommittee determined that Gay's actions were not reckless or intentional, thus not constituting research misconduct.

The scrutiny surrounding Gay's academic career initially arose following her congressional testimony about anti-Semitism on campus. Gay, along with Liz Magill from the University of Pennsylvania and MIT's president, Sally Kornbluth, faced criticism for their responses to New York Representative Elise Stefanik's question regarding the violation of codes of conduct on campuses in case of calls for the genocide of Jews. The presidents were called before the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce to address concerns about the protection of Jewish students amidst rising anti-Semitism worldwide.

Gay stated that the violation depends on the context, clarifying that when "speech crosses into conduct, that violates our policies." However, her answer was met with swift backlash from both Republican and some Democratic lawmakers, as well as the White House. Consequently, the House committee announced an investigation into the policies and disciplinary procedures at Harvard, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania.

Initially, the Harvard Corporation expressed support for Gay, stating that a review of her scholarly work revealed only a few instances of inadequate citation, with no evidence of research misconduct. However, plagiarism allegations continued to emerge throughout December, ultimately leading to Gay's resignation this month.

As the investigation unfolds, Harvard University remains committed to upholding academic integrity and maintaining a fair and thorough examination of the allegations brought against former president Claudine Gay.