Claudine Gay: for the first time a black woman leads Harvard

“The idea of ​​an ivory tower is a thing of the past, it’s not the future of the academy,” he said in a video posted on Harvard’s Twitter account. And the future is her. According to the AFP, Claudine Gay was named president of the prestigious American private university on Thursday 15 December. This is the first time the facility has been run by a black woman.

2 women out of 30 presidencies

Founded in 1636, Harvard University, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Claudine Gay is the 30th person to be named head of the university, but only the second woman and the first woman of color. Harvard’s first president is Drew Gilpin Faust. Appointed in 2007, she led the plant until 2018. Daughter of Haitian immigrants, Claudine Gay, 52, is a professor of African and African-American studies, a specialist in minority policy. She is also a Fellow of the Academy of Arts and Sciences and currently Dean of the Faculty with responsibility for Sciences and Social Sciences.

Basically, the positive discrimination debate

Claudine Gay’s nomination for Harvard president, chosen from 600 candidates, comes as the establishment is at the center of a debate in the Cassation on the positive discrimination practiced during the admission of students at some of the oldest private and public universities in Harvard and North Carolina. The Court must rule by the end of June 2023.

In a video released on the day of her appointment, the new president of Harvard for her part sent out a message calling for change. ” At Harvard, we have a duty to think things through, to get involved, and to serve the world. », she said. “With the strength of this amazing institution supporting us, we are entering a time when anything is possible, a time that calls for closer collaboration within the university and across all of our amazing schools. A moment to see pioneers emerge into new fields of researchnew ways of thinking, not only about the problems we face, but also about finding solutions to our biggest challenges,” he added. Claudine Gay will take office on July 1, 2023.