A Harvard alum fed up with the university’s handling of antisemitism on campus by the embattled president has launched “an insurgent campaign” to gain a seat on the influential Board of Overseers before the damage is irreversible.
“I’m trying to help Harvard move on from what may be its weakest point in hundreds of years,” Sam Lessin told the Herald Tuesday.
The 40-year-old venture capitalist based in San Francisco has until Jan. 31 to collect 3,300 signatures from fellow graduates to make it on the spring ballot for a seat on the board — the second-most powerful governing body after the Harvard Corporation.
Lessin, who graduated from Harvard in 2005, said if he’s successful, he’ll be able to ask the hard questions that seem to have gone unanswered as the Cambridge college faces blistering criticism over pro-Palestinian protests, antisemitism and threats against Jewish students and accusations of plagiarism against college President Claudine Gay.
Gay’s dismal testimony before a congressional committee amplified Harvard’s highly condemned response to the Hamas Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel and has sent the school into a spiral. All that, Lessin said, is turning off fellow alumni so severely they no longer want to donate to the school.
“So many of my friends say they will walk away,” said Lessin. “Being on the Board of Overseers puts you in the room where you can ask questions, and those questions can be powerful.”
He quickly added: “Plagiarism was a question that should have been asked long ago.”
Gay will need to make three corrections to her Ph.D. dissertation amid plagiarism allegations, the Harvard Corporation has stated, as other allegations of lifting work from others continue to swirl non-stop.
When asked if he will push for Gay’s ouster if elected, Lessin was more diplomatic, saying it’s up to the Corporation to decide if she is “capable of leading where Harvard needs to go.” He added Gay “doesn’t have a credible record when it comes to free speech.”
Before Congress, Gay said the campus protects free speech, even of views that are offensive and hateful. She refused to characterize calls for the genocide of Jews as a breach of Harvard’s code of conduct, instead saying the offense depends on the context.
Her testimony was “stunning and utterly disappointing,” Harvard Hillel President Jacob Miller said as the Jewish student group called on Gay to take action against those using threatening speech.
Massachusetts Congressmen Jake Auchincloss and Seth Moulton issued a joint statement in reaction to the House hearing.
“Harvard ranks last out of 248 universities for support of free speech,” the congressmen said. “But when it comes to denouncing antisemitism, suddenly the university has anxieties about the First Amendment. It rings hollow.”
Lessin stressed that making all students feel safe — especially Jewish students — must be Harvard’s top priority now, and “if you’re going to have rules, they need to be applied equally.”
Next, he told the Herald, Harvard must “return to excellence” — and protests on campus that “disrupt exams or study sessions” are the exact opposite.
“I am running an insurgent campaign but one out of love for Harvard,” he said. “The university is not able to lead.”
