Since Harvard president Claudine Gay resigned over accusations of plagiarism, many in the media have defended her. The Associated Press, for instance, tweeted: “Harvard’s president’s resignation highlights new conservative weapon against colleges: plagiarism.”

It’s not clear how Gay’s lack of academic integrity could be a conservative “weapon,” but, according to Neil Shenvi, this willingness to ignore or defend plagiarism reflects how Critical Theory “has saturated our culture.”  

In a thread on X, Shenvi documented how key texts of Critical Race Theory disparage objective truth, merit, and neutrality: “whether they know [it] or not, many progressives have imbibed [CRT] categories, its skepticism towards ‘merit,’ and its belief in the ubiquity of ‘white supremacy culture.’” 

In other words, for many in the press and academia, plagiarism is no big deal if you’re from an oppressed class and have progressive views. These ideas challenge the very idea of truth and must be clarified and confronted.