Embattled harvard president claudine gay stepping down, abruptly ending her turbulent six-month tenure as the institution s first black president, the shortest term of anyone in that position. in a letter to the harvard community, gay writing it has become clear that it is in the best interest of harvard for me to resign, and that it has been distressing to have doubt cast on my commitments to confronting hate and to upholding scholarly rigor, two bedrock values that are fundamental to who i am, and frightening to be subjected to personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus. antisemitic rhetoric when it crosses into conduct that amounts to bullying. reporter: calls to gay s hearing prompted a backlash to this response at last month s congressional hearing when republican elise stefanik pressed her about antisemitism on college campuses. does calling for genocide of jews violate harvard s rules of bullying and harassment, yes or no? it can be, depending on the context. it does not depend on the context. the answer is yes. reporter: pressure
Down following backlash over their responses to anti-semitism on campus. but gay also faced accusations of plagiarism. nbc news correspondent erin mclaughlin reports from outside harvard and cambridge, massachusetts. harvard president claudine gay announced she s resigning. gay s departure comes just six months after a turbulent tenure at the university. writing to the community, this is not a decision i came to easily. i am claudine gay, the president of harvard university. gay says her decision comes after discussions with harvard s top governing body, about unrelenting scrutiny from critics, who say she mishandled anti-semitism on harvard s campus, as well as plagiarism allegations in her academic work, which she has denied. gay writing, it has been distressing to have doubt cast on my commitments to confronting hate and to upholding scholarly rigor, two bedrock values that are fundamental to who i am.
But allegations of plagiarism soon following. gay then making the decision that this was in the best interest of the university. harvard president claudine gay announced she s redesigning. her departure comes just six months into a turbulent tenure at the university writing in a letter to the harvard community, this is not a decision i came to easily. i am claudine gay, the president of harvard university. reporter: gay says her decision comes after discussions with harvard s top governing body about unrelenting critics, as well as plagiarism allegations in her academic work which she has denied. writing it has been distressing to have doubt cast on my commitments to confronting hate and to upholding scholarly rigor, two bedrock values that are fundamental to who i am. calls for her resignation
It has been distressing to doubt cast on my commitments to confronting hate and to upholding scholarly rigor, nd frightening to be subjected to personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus. it came out of nowhere. reporter: jonathan frieden is a harvard law student who attended the hearing and has experience and for semitism on campus. the issues that exist are systemic and they still need to be addressed. reporter: so you think this is just the beginning? i hope that this is j just te beginning. reporter: harvard s governing body says gay will stay on as a faculty member and they have named an interim president. tonight, there are no new calls for mid s president to step down, although the school s board has previously said she has their full support, major. major: nikole killion, thank you so much. we turn to ask leading tangents in the middle east now and a suspected israeli attack, a senior hamas leader who would also be founder of the group s military wing was killed in an explosion in beirut. this comes as fears mount that