After Claudine Gay, Harvard's chief diversity officer hit with 40 plagiarism accusations

Harvard University has come under the scanner yet again after allegations of plagiarism surfaced against its Chief Diversity and Inclusion OfficerSherri Ann Charleston. An anonymous complaint handed to the Ivy League school earlier this week listed at least 40 examples of alleged plagiarism by Charleston, dating back to 2009, according to a report in theNew York Post.

The complaint alleges that Charleston quoted or paraphrased a dozen scholars without adequate attribution in her2009 dissertation at the University of Michigan.In one instance, Charleston failed to cite her husband, LaVar Charleston's study as well.

LaVar, who is currently theUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison’s deputy vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion, wrote the said paper in 2012. However, his spouse rehashed large portions of the paper in a peer-reviewed article they co-authored and published in the Journal of Negro Education in 2014.

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In addition to Harvard, the complaint has also been filed with the University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Notably, the allegations date back to over a decade before Charleston eventually joined Harvard.

Watch |Harvard President Claudine Gay quits amid row over response on anti-semitism

Claudine Gay plagiarism and antisemtism scandal

The allegations against Charlestonsurfaced after Harvard University president Claudine Gay was forced to resign over plagiarism andher response to antisemitism on campus amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Gay first courted controversy when a video clip of Ivy League college presidents giving testimony in front of US lawmakers went viral. Three Ivy League school leaders, including Gay, failed to condemn widespread antisemitism on their campuses during the testimony. After the clip did numbers, netizens began demanding Gay's resignation and soon later, allegations of plagiarism surfaced against her.

Gay, who made it to history books by becoming the first Black person to be the chief of thepowerhouse university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, stated in her resignation letter that she had been subjected to personal threats and "racial animus".

According to reports, more than 70 lawmakers, majorly Republicans as well as two Democrats, demanded her resignation. Additionally, a number of high-profileHarvardalumni and donors also called for her departure. Billionaire Bill Ackman was one of the most prominent voices who opened a front against the university and Gay.

(With inputs from agencies)