On Tuesday's CNN News Central broadcast, CNN reporter Matt Egan said some of the initial plagiarism allegations against outgoing Harvard University president Claudine Gay “came from activists and were not used to quote academic papers. “It wasn't a committed activist, it was actually a right-wing activist.” They feel that many Ivy League presidents are too liberal. ''The accusations against Gay were “akin to copying someone else's work without attribution,'' and “rather than stealing someone's ideas, they were sloppy in noting the source.''
Egan said, “Claudine Gay is under a lot of pressure here. [have] So many things have gone wrong in just a few months. The initial response to the October 7 attack was also criticized by Harvard University officials. I also know that my testimony before Congress last month was widely criticized. It was considered a disaster. Gay apologized, but the criticism continued. Lawmakers investigated the matter. At the same time, there were plagiarism allegations swirling around Claudine Gay. ”
He said that Gay “has had to make corrections many times. It should be noted here that Claudine Gay has not been accused of stealing anyone's ideas in her writings. She's been accused of sort of copying someone else's work without attributing it, which is more of a sloppy attribution than stealing someone else's idea. But nevertheless, you put all that together and you add in the political pressure and the pressure from donors… as if the situation is now more than possible for Claudine Gaye's presidency to survive. It seems to me.”
Co-host Brianna Kaylor said: [were] Also, Matt, there's a political overtone here, which is that Congress, the House of Representatives, the Republican oversight body has decided to participate in this investigation, which is rather unusual, and the It added a kind of tension to the discussion. ”
Egan replied, “You're right, Brianna. It's worth noting that like many things in society, this is all very politicized and wrapped up in politics. And even the plagiarism allegations , some of the first allegations about plagiarism actually came from activists, not activists who were passionate about academic citations, and who felt that many of the Ivy League presidents were too liberal. She was a right-wing activist…and that's where some of the initial concerns about her academic work arose.”
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