The president of the largest college professors organization in the U.S. is worried that conservatives might target professors who have plagiarized, according to The Associated Press.
Harvard President Claudine Gay resigned from her position Tuesday following several plagiarism accusations uncovered by conservative publications. Now, President Irene Mulvey of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) worries that plagiarism could be “weaponized” against university professors by conservatives, according to the AP. (RELATED: ‘Harvard Should Be Ashamed’: Republicans Sound Off Over Harvard President Claudine Gay’s Resignation)
“There is a right-wing political attack on higher education right now, which feels like an existential threat to the academic freedom that has made American higher education the envy of the world,” Mulvey told the AP.
WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 05: Dr. Claudine Gay, President of Harvard University, testifies before the House Education and Workforce Committee at the Rayburn House Office Building on December 05, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“For presidents to be taken down like this, it does not bode well for academic freedom,” Mulvey continued. “I think it’ll chill the climate for academic freedom. And it may make university presidents less likely to speak out against this inappropriate interference for fear of losing their jobs or being targeted.”
More than 70 Democratic and Republican Representatives called on Gay, University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill and Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Sally Kornbluth to be removed from the universities following their testimony before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing Dec. 5. The committee opened an investigation into the universities’ “learning environments, policies, and disciplinary procedures” following the congressional hearing, and Magill resigned as president of UPenn on Dec. 9.
Gay submitted two corrections to academic articles Dec. 15 involving “quotation marks and citations” but another round of plagiarism allegations came Dec 19. Gay submitted additional corrections after the Harvard Corporation, the university’s highest governing board, reviewed her work, but the Corporation said Gay’s actions did not constitute serious wrongdoing.
More plagiarism accusations plagued Gay Monday, and following the new allegations, Gay resigned but did not offer an apology for her alleged plagiarism.
Gay and the AAUP did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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