VOA教育报道2024--Harvard President’s Ouster Leads to Concerns about Academic Freedom

Harvard President’s Ouster Leads to Concerns about Academic Freedom

　　Harvard University's Claudine Gay recently became the second Ivy² League president to step down under pressure from alumni, political activists³ and supporters of the University.

　　Gay was the first Black president of Harvard and second woman to lead the university. She started the job only six months ago.

　　Gay and two other presidents were widely criticized after making controversial comments to the U.S. Congress in December.

　　Gay, along with Sally Kornbluth of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Liz Magill of the University of Pennsylvania, were called to Washington to discuss American lawmakers' concerns about antisemitism on college campuses. Antisemitism is the hatred⁴ of Jewish people.

　　The U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Education chose the presidents because their schools had "been at the center of the rise in antisemitic protests," a committee spokesperson said in a statement.

　　The protests were related to the ongoing⁵ conflict between Israel and Hamas.

　　Harvard graduate Elise Stefanik of New York is part of the Republican-led committee. She asked each university leader about how their school would react to calls to kill large numbers of Jews, something described as genocide.

　　Stefanik asked Magill: "Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Penn's rules or code of conduct? Yes or no?" Penn is the University of Pennsylvania, a member of the Ivy League.

　　She asked the same question of Gay and Kornbluth.

　　None of the school leaders were able to clearly say calling for the death of Jews violated school rules.

　　The presidents were sharply criticized for their lack of clarity. Within a few days, influential⁶ members of the University of Pennsylvania community pushed Magill to resign.

　　For a time, it looked as if Gay's job was safe. She received support from some notable professors at Harvard, including legal scholar Laurence Tribe.

　　Tribe said "it is dangerous for universities to be ... bullied⁷ into micromanaging their policies." He was talking about the way some activists and politicians seemed to be pushing the universities toward their preferred result.

　　One of those activists is Christopher Rufo. Rufo is a member of the leadership group that oversees⁸ New College of Florida. With the support of Governor Ron DeSantis, Rufo and others have been pushing the small college to change its curriculum.

　　After Gay announced her resignation on January 2, Rufo wrote words of celebration on X, formerly⁹ known as Twitter. He and other conservatives believe American higher education has too many liberal people in leadership roles.

　　Gay's position at Harvard looked safe in December. So what changed?

　　In the weeks following the congressional hearing, some critics charged Gay with using "duplicative language" in academic writing. To duplicate means to make an exact copy of something.

　　They also said Gay had plagiarized¹⁰ -- or claimed others' writing as her own.

　　The charges, however, did not come from those working in higher education. They came from people like Rufo who are working to push out higher education leaders they do not agree with.

　　At first, Harvard said it did not consider Gay's work to be "intentional¹¹ or reckless." But pressure continued.

　　Many observers believe the conservative activists felt Gay only received Harvard's presidency¹² because she was a Black woman.

　　On X, Rufo wrote that he was establishing a "plagiarism¹³ hunting fund" as a way to oust¹ university leaders and bring attention to the "rot in the Ivy League."

　　Gay wrote a letter to the Harvard community announcing she was leaving her position "with a heavy heart." She also said it was frightening to be attacked due to her race. Gay said she would remain at Harvard as a professor.

　　Plagiarism complaints as a tool

　　Academic experts who have been following the pressure campaign on Gay say the plagiarism accusations¹⁴ only came after it looked like she would not lose her job.

　　They worry that people who do not like the leaders of major American universities will now research their academic writing in search of duplications and poor citations¹⁵.

　　Davarian Baldwin is a historian at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. He writes about race and higher education. Baldwin said Gay made mistakes in her writing and noted¹⁶ that anti-plagiarism software will make it easy for critics to find problematic writing by college leaders and professors.

　　The tools are designed to help educators learn whether their students' writings are their own. But Baldwin said the tools can be dangerous if they fall into the hands of people who want to argue that academia is full of corrupt¹⁷ and incompetent¹⁸ people. Incompetent means someone lacks the ability to do something well.

　　Irene Mulvey is president of the American Association of University Professors. She said plagiarism investigations¹⁹ could be "weaponized" to push out presidents.

　　She said she is concerned that conservative activists will use the successful campaign against Gay as a method to push out other academic leaders.

　　"For presidents to be taken down like this, it does not bode²⁰ well for academic freedom," she said.

　　Words in This Story

　　alumni –n. the people who graduated from a school or university

　　campus –n. the physical location of a college or university's buildings

　　code of conduct –n. rules on how to participate in a group, such as how to be a student at a university

　　bully²¹ –v. to frighten, hurt, or threaten (a smaller or weaker person) : to act like a bully toward (someone)

　　micromanage –v. to try to control all parts of something usually in a way that is not wanted

　　preferred –adj. the better choice among multiple things

　　curriculum –n. a study plan set up for students by a professor or school

　　preferred –adj. the better choice among multiple things

　　rot –n. decay or lack of health

　　bode well –v. to feel positive about the future of something

1 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。

2 ivy   

n.常青藤，常春藤

参考例句：

• Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。
• The wall is covered all over with ivy.墙上爬满了常春藤。

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

5 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

6 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

7 bullied   

adj.被欺负了v.恐吓，威逼( bully的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• My son is being bullied at school. 我儿子在学校里受欺负。
• The boy bullied the small girl into giving him all her money. 那男孩威逼那个小女孩把所有的钱都给他。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

9 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

10 plagiarized   

v.剽窃，抄袭( plagiarize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The poem employs as its first lines a verse plagiarized from a billboard. 这首诗开头的几行抄袭了一个广告牌上的一节诗。 来自辞典例句
• Whole passages of the work are plagiarized. 那作品整段整段都是剽窃的。 来自辞典例句

11 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。

12 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

13 plagiarism   

n.剽窃，抄袭

参考例句：

• Teachers in America fight to control cheating and plagiarism.美国老师们努力对付欺骗和剽窃的问题。
• Now he's in real trouble.He's accused of plagiarism.现在他是真遇到麻烦了。他被指控剽窃。

14 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

15 citations   

n.引用( citation的名词复数 )；引证；引文；表扬

参考例句：

• The apt citations and poetic gems have adorned his speeches. 贴切的引语和珠玑般的诗句为他的演说词增添文采。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Some dictionary writers use citations to show what words mean. 有些辞典的编纂者用引文作例证以解释词义。 来自辞典例句

16 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

17 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

18 incompetent   

adj.无能力的，不能胜任的

参考例句：

• He is utterly incompetent at his job.他完全不能胜任他的工作。
• He is incompetent at working with his hands.他动手能力不行。

19 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

20 bode   

v.预示

参考例句：

• These figures do not bode well for the company's future.这些数字显示出公司的前景不妙。
• His careful habits bode well for his future.他那认真的习惯预示著他会有好的前途。

21 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。