Former Harvard President Claudine Gay Celebrated at Black Alumni Society Event

The Harvard Black Alumni Society awarded former Harvard President Claudine Gay its award for “Leadership and Courage” on Saturday at the first University-wide Black alumni conference in more than a decade.

After receiving the award, Gay delivered remarks to the hundreds of alumni who gathered in Sanders Theater for the event — a rare keynote speech delivered by Gay since her resignation in January.

Gay has only made a few public appearances since she left office under a cloud of plagiarism allegations and criticism of her response to campus antisemitism. The Black alumni celebration over the weekend was closed to members of the press and also featured remarks from University President Alan M. Garber ’76.

The 47-page program noted that the dates for the two-day celebration, which began Friday, were “chosen purposefully to mark the one-year anniversary” of Gay’s presidential inauguration.

The event drew a number of prominent Black alumni back to campus, including former Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch ’81, former Massachusetts Governor Deval L. Patrick ’78, and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. ’95.

Harvard Black Alumni Society President Monica M. Clark ’06 said in an interview that honoring Gay’s leadership and courage at the conference was “extremely appropriate.”

“This reunion — all these people who were expressing all this support for her — they were all there,” Clark added. “Celebrating her, and clapping for her, and cheering her on.”

Thomas G. Stewart, who overlapped with Gay at Harvard while they were both Ph.D. students in Government, said that “she was a person from day one that loved this institution.”

“She’s humble, she’s smart, she’s — fortunately — someone that still is affiliated with the University, and has pledged her support to it to her dying day,” Stewart added.

Black alumni leaders also met with Garber in a closed-door meeting on Thursday where they called on Garber to consider Black candidates for senior positions at the University, including during searches for Harvard’s top deans, according to Byron J. McLain ’00, who represented the Harvard Law School Association Black Alumni Network at the meeting.

McLain called the conversation with Garber a “very good first step.”

“Words are one thing, and actions are another," he added.

Clark said that she emphasized the group’s priorities during a meeting with Garber, which include resisting “anti-DEI pressure” and “creating a pipeline to his successor that includes Black candidates — and this time, making sure that there’s a culture where those candidates can stay and thrive.”

In interviews, more than a dozen attendees and event organizers also called on Harvard to resist attacks against diversity, equity, and inclusion as questions continue to swirl about the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down affirmative action and its impact on Harvard College admissions. The College announced a 4 percentage point drop in its enrollment of Black students in the Class of 2028 last month.

University spokesperson Jason A. Newton wrote in a statement that “President Garber was pleased to join Harvard Black Alumni Society to welcome the HBAS Global Changemakers Conference and meet with alumni leaders on campus.”

Several people who attended the weekend festivities said that Harvard needs to do more to support its Black alumni.

Stewart warned the University against returning to a past period when it did not embrace “all types of people.”

“There are forces that believe, people that believe that we should go back to that era, and we’re committed to representing the fact that we’re not three-fifths of a human being,” Stewart said. “We’re human.”

M. Bruce Robinson, a former president of the Harvard Business School Club of Shanghai, praised the alumni celebration as “positive” and called on the University to support alumni activities beyond the donor class.

“We need people to donate, but we also need people who can't donate in size to also be recognized as supporters — and as important,” Robinson said. “I think the University needs to reflect on what is its mission.”

“If you’re going to be beholden to a certain segment of your alumni group, you just ought to admit that,” he added.

Harvard Alumni Association Executive Director Sarah Karmon wrote in a statement that “this year’s HBAS Global Changemakers Conference was an exceptional gathering of nearly 1,000 alumni on campus.”

“The engagement of our alumni community is a vital element of the university’s success,” Karmon added.

On Saturday, Gay continued to mingle with attendees long after the award ceremony had ended, attending an evening gala at the Charles Hotel.

Shortly after spotting Gay on the dance floor upstairs, Stewart said she was enjoying the celebration.

“She’s in good spirits, and folks should know that,” he said.

—Staff writer Frank S. Zhou can be reached at frank.zhou@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @frank_s_zhou or on Threads @frank_s_zhou.