1. Words are cheap. Harvard, as I noted last month, has been singled out by The Fire as the worst university in the nation regarding free expression and free speech. Is Gay, as a newly installed president, just mouthing convenient platitudes, or will she make a genuine effort to reverse the culture at her institution? We shall see.

2. This episode exemplifies what Harvard’s version of open discourse is, or at least was just 8 months ago.

3. Gay’s lament for people trying to protect their families and just trying to survive is code for “those cruel Israelis will be injuring and killing civilians and children as they set out to wipe out Hamas.” The citizens of Gaza elected a terrorist organization to run their territory. They are not innocent in what has transpired. They are fully complicit. If they were so dedicated to their children, they would not have intentionally placed their fates in the hands of violent anti-Semitic extremists.

4. Now Harvard is opposing hate and division, perhaps because, finally, a lot of that hate is being focused on Harvard. As recently as its position in the affirmative action case before the Supreme Court, Harvard has been an enthusiastic force for division—racial, political, and more.