Turning Point USA

The Harvard Divinity School’s Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging hosted a Gathering to Breathe and Heal event for students who are grieving the ousting of disgraced former President Claudine Gay, who was removed from her post after being accused of several counts of plagiarism.

The event was held on Thursday in the Braun Room on campus and was advertised to students as a time to “gather to breathe and to heal, to grieve, and to share the heaviness of what we’re holding with others.”

“This is not a space for debate; rather, it is a container for holding emotions in community knowing that the circle holds us all,” the department said in the newsletter obtained by the Daily Wire. “Whether we agree or disagree, it is a space where we recognize each other’s humanity and practice the work of local, which we see as essential to a path forward, especially when we do not have the answers. Each time we gather we center anything that has happened that we need to prioritize. For this gathering, we will create space for us to discuss and process the departure of our former president,” the department added.

According to the newsletter, the “gathering” was facilitated by Melissa Wood Bartholomew, the Associate Dean for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging, and Steph Gauchel, the Assistant Dean for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging.

Former President Gay was under significant pressure to resign from her role after the controversy that erupted on campus following the October 7 attack on Israel, which prompted several student groups on campus to announce their support for the terrorist organization Hamas. Jewish students later sued Harvard University for allegedly tolerating “rampant” antisemitism and “anti-Jewish hatred and harassment” on campus.

Shortly after, Gay was accused of plagiarizing several academic articles, which eventually led the Harvard head to resign, though she retained her position with the university as a professor and researcher.