Antisemitism, Plagiarism, ‘Clear Marxist Leaning’: Dr. Carol Swain Sounds Alarm on Higher Ed

Harvard, once the shining example of academic excellence, has faced criticism over its handling of campus antisemitism as well as accusations that a former university president committed plagiarism.  Dr. Carol Swain, a retired professor and author of The Gay Affair, Harvard, Plagiarism, and the Death of Academic Integrity, claims higher education has been hijacked by the left and academic integrity sacrificed because of it. 

Dr. Swain, who taught at Princeton, Duke, and Vanderbilt, says she was a victim of plagiarism herself by none other than the former president of Harvard University, Claudine Gay. 

On this cold night in Nashville, Swain spoke to the Vanderbilt GOP club about her new book, “The Gay Affair” which dissects the failure of DEI and plagiarism through Gay’s story, but she began by telling them about her humble upbringing and why the American dream is possible for anyone who puts in the work.

“I was one of 12 children, born and raised in rural poverty in southwestern Virginia. We all dropped out of school after completing the eighth grade. I married at age 16, had my first child at age 17 and in my early twenties I earned a GED, went to a community college and got the first of five degrees.  I graduated Magna cum laude from Roanoke College while working 40 hours a week, nights and weekends at the community college library. And then, I went to Virginia Tech, got a master’s in political science later, a PhD in political science. And after I had been a professor at Princeton tenured, I went back to school and got a law degree from Yale,” Swain said.

A prolific author, Swain’s most famous work, Black Faces, Black Interests, asked the question, how well does the U.S. Congress represent African American interests? And it was from this book that former Harvard President Claudine Gay is accused of plagiarizing. 

“I went through a range of emotions. I thought, well, maybe it was an accident. Maybe she just accidentally did that. But then I started reading her work and looking for citations and references to my work, and I became disturbed and then very sad. I was sad because we’re both black women and I thought it was a bad look for black women,” Swain said.

On January 2, 2024, after only 186 days on the job, Claudine Gay, Harvard’s first black female president, announced her resignation for different reasons.

Swain partially blames DEI policies for Gay’s fall.

“They fast-tracked her. And so that’s part of the problem. But she gave disastrous testimony before Congress along with two other college presidents, university presidents about antisemitism on campus. And so, of the three, Claudine Gay stood out because she was not willing to really articulate a moral sensitive policy to the harassment of Jewish students,” Swain said.

Swain says what happens at Harvard affects the entire world. 

“Everyone wants to be Harvard. If Harvard is lax about its academic integrity and standards, not only will it impact the other institutions, but also K through 12 education because the private and public schools, everyone’s looking to Harvard for leadership. That’s one reason I believe our country is in decline because the Ivy League institutions, for the most part, are being controlled by people that have clear Marxist leaning as far as that ideology,” she said.

Another problem, according to Swain, the often double standard that exists between students and faculty. 

“Harvard, in most instances, they have strict penalties and guidelines for students when it comes to plagiarism. But if it’s an administrator or a faculty member, they kind of back away. But if institutions are not willing to police the plagiarism, then the whole academic enterprise sort of goes down the tube because you’re rewarded for the quality of your ideas,” she said.

Swain says too many problems from plagiarism to antisemitism take place on college campuses today and if higher education is going to succeed, she says universities need to clean up their act. 

“If they are rewarding us because of the quality of our minds and what we produce, then they need to protect intellectual property. And we wonder what happened. Many started off as Christian universities, they were founded by people that wanted to promote the Christian worldview of the cause of faith. And they have lost their way,” she said.

While Swain misses the classroom and interacting with students, she still believes getting an education is the most important thing a young person can do.

“It’s so essential if you are going to be a productive citizen, for you to have critical thinking skills. So, I would like to see colleges and universities go back to being a marketplace for ideas and for them to have diversity of thought. I miss interacting with the students but right now, I’m very focused on what I believe God has called me to do. I believe he’s given me a platform and the world is my classroom,” Swain said.

Swain’s latest book, The Gay Affair, Harvard, Plagiarism, and the Death of Academic Integrity is available wherever books are sold.  (please insert Swain’s book link here if applicable)