Harvard University has become a refuge for plagiarists and now, antisemites. How far a once-bright star has fallen. It will take someone willing to fight to heal Harvard University of its ivory tower hubris.
This is my declaration that I plan to take on that fight. Repeatedly, the University has failed to take responsibility for the deleterious actions of its faculty, students, and administrators that have had immediate real-life consequences for Jews, hardworking students, and faculty, as well as victims of its faculty plagiarism.
Consider the University’s handling of antisemitism and all matters related to its plagiarism scandal, which it has yet to rectify. Serial plagiarist Claudine Gay is scheduled to teach a fall graduate seminar on “reading and research,” an area where she has famously failed. The irony is too rich: allowing an in-house plagiarist to teach ethics. And yet Harvard openly bullies anyone who challenges its authorities on these serious moral issues with lawfare.
When the New York Post contacted them about Gay’s plagiarism, they responded with their big dog lawyers and threatened the press with a defamation lawsuit. When six Jewish students filed a lawsuit against Harvard for failing to protect their civil rights by addressing the rampant antisemitism on campus, the University asked a judge to dismiss the case. When my lawyers presented the University and Gay’s lawyers with demand letters to explain her plagiarism and its implications, the response from the big dog lawyers was to argue that the theft of my ideas and sentences was fair use. And that if I filed suit against them and lost, I would be responsible for court costs, which some have estimated could top $100,000 if the copyright infringement/intellectual property case were to go to trial. Harvard acts as if it believes it can use its wealth to shrug off wrongdoing and silence its victims.
I refuse to be intimidated by an unrepentant plagiarist cowering behind Harvard’s lawyers. But I am one woman against Leviathan. I will need your help. Therefore, I am announcing the establishment of a www.GiveSendGo.com/HelpHealHarvardsHubris fund to help finance the cost of a lawsuit against Harvard University. The goal of the lawsuit is to hold the University accountable and prompt the alumni and corporation to steer the institution back towards its founding purpose of academic integrity and excellence. Funds raised in excess of the amount needed to finance court cases will be used to help establish a Christian classical education school in Roanoke, Virginia for underprivileged children.
Let us be the ones to restore Harvard University to its former glory: a crown jewel of American education and excellence, or at least help heal the University’s hubris.
Carol Swain, retired Professor of Political Science and Professor of Law at Vanderbilt University, resides in Nashville, Tennessee. She is a bestselling author, public speaker, and small business owner.
