I don’t know how to not hate.

January 3, 2024

A little of what I think of the Claudine Gay controversy. Basically, I don’t view it as an individual failure on the part of a university president, I see it as a symptom of a much larger problem with which this country is unsuccessfully grappling.

I can’t address the controversy surrounding Gay’s gender and race, and even if I could, I couldn’t speak to it in terms of higher academia. That’s not a world I’ve ever inhabited. I will say the plagiarism aspects are unfortunate, Gay should not have made those mistakes, they substantially undermine her credibility. But that was decades ago, and the right went digging deep to find those indiscretions. Justified criticism nonetheless, although I’m not sure worthy of her resignation. But again, I don’t inhabit the world of higher academia, so my opinion is not based on direct knowledge and certainly doesn’t hold any weight.

With regards to the congressional hearing, it’s quite obvious Gay and her colleagues were extensively coached. Just as I would have, I imagine them spending hours in front of a mirror practicing their responses, trying their damndest to bely their emotions, narrowly responding to questions with brief, monotone, fact-based answers in line with established university policy. Their humanity was squelched. There was nothing left of their authenticity, their personal…