(CAMBRIDGE, Mass.) — Harvard President Claudine Gay will stay chief of the distinguished Ivy League faculty following her feedback final week at a congressional listening to on antisemitism, the college’s highest governing physique introduced Tuesday.

“Our extensive deliberations affirm our confidence that President Gay is the right leader to help our community heal and to address the very serious societal issues we are facing,” the Harvard Corporation stated in a press release following its assembly Monday.

Only months into her management, Gay got here underneath intense scrutiny following the listening to through which she and two of her friends struggled to reply questions on campus antisemitism within the wake of the newest Israel-Hamas struggle, which erupted in early October. Their educational responses provoked backlash from Republican opponents, together with alumni and donors who say the college leaders are failing to face up for Jewish college students on their campuses.

At problem was a line of questioning that requested whether or not calling for the genocide of Jews would violate the colleges’ code of conduct. At the listening to, Gay stated it trusted the context, including that when “speech crosses into conduct, that violates our policies.”

Some lawmakers and donors to the the college had referred to as for Gay to step down, following the resignation of Liz Magill as president of the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday.

The Harvard Crimson scholar newspaper first reported Tuesday that Gay, who turned Harvard’s first Black president in July, would stay in workplace with the assist of the Harvard Corporation following the conclusion of the board’s assembly. It cited an unnamed supply conversant in the choice.

A petition signed by greater than 600 college members had requested the varsity’s governing physique to maintain Gay in cost.

“So many people have suffered tremendous damage and pain because of Hamas’s brutal terrorist attack, and the university’s initial statement should have been an immediate, direct, and unequivocal condemnation,” the company’s assertion stated. “Calls for genocide are despicable and contrary to fundamental human values. President Gay has apologized for how she handled her congressional testimony and has committed to redoubling the university’s fight against antisemitism.”

In an interview with The Crimson last week, Gay said she got caught up in a heated exchange at the House committee hearing and failed to properly denounce threats of violence against Jewish students.

“What I should have had the presence of mind to do in that moment was return to my guiding truth, which is that calls for violence against our Jewish community — threats to our Jewish students — have no place at Harvard, and will never go unchallenged,” Gay stated.

Testimony from Gay and Magill drew intense national backlash, as did similar responses from the president of MIT, who also testified before the Republican-led House Education and Workforce Committee.

U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-New York, a committee member who repeatedly asked the university presidents whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” would violate the schools’ rules, voiced her displeasure on X, the social media platform, about the decision supporting Gay.

“There have been absolutely no updates to (Harvard’s) code of conduct to condemn the calls for genocide of Jews and protect Jewish students on campus,” she said. “The only update to Harvard’s code of conduct is to allow plagiarists as president.”

A grassroots watchdog group referred to as StopAntisemitism stated on X that Harvard’s determination “serves only to greenlight more Jew-hatred on campus.” It said it continues to call for Gay’s resignation and urged the corporation to reconsider.

College campuses nationwide have been roiled by protests, antisemitism and Islamophobia since the start of the war in Gaza two months ago, putting university administrators across the nation on the defensive.

The corporation also addressed allegations of plagiarism against Gay, saying that Harvard became aware of them in late October regarding three articles she had written. It initiated an independent review at Gay’s request.

The corporation reviewed the results on Saturday, “which revealed a few instances of inadequate citation” and located no violation of Harvard’s requirements for analysis misconduct, it stated. Gay is proactively requesting 4 corrections in two articles to insert citations and citation marks that have been omitted from the unique publications, the assertion stated.

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McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Associated Press reporter David Sharp contributed from Portland, Maine.