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My hope is that by stepping down I will deny demagogues the opportunity to further weaponize my presidency in their campaign to undermine the ideals animating Harvard since its founding: excellence, openness, independence, truth.

— Claudine Gay Op-ed in The New York Times (2024)

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More quotes by Claudine Gay

Courage is hard, and hard to sustain. But we see it everywhere, steady in the face of war and injustice, sickness and loss, in stories of perseverance for a greater purpose.

Inauguration address (excerpts) (2023)

I love this place. Harvard is where I found my intellectual home. It has nurtured and inspired me since I first set foot in the Yard. I am deeply invested, not only in what Harvard is today, but also in what Harvard’s leadership means for the future.

A responsibility to help anchor our democracy—by cultivating norms and values essential to a free society and by ensuring the free flow of knowledge not only among students and faculty but to all citizens to enable them to make informed decisions.

Inauguration address (excerpts) (2023)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Claudine Gay (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.