A Government and African and African American Studies professor at Harvard prompted a statement from the school, got a community note on X, and was eventually asked to offer what was, despite her framing, a complete reversal of her comments about Harvard Extension School students this week after an attempted “own” of a conservative writer and activist.

Prof. Jennifer L. Hochschild faced major backlash to a message she posted on X, formerly Twitter, about writer and activist Christopher Rufo, who was a key figure in the revelations about now-ousted Harvard president Claudine Gay’s past plagiarism.

Hochschild is among those whom Gay was accused of either plagiarizing or failing to properly cite in works that were flagged by, among others, Rufo. That scandal, following Gay’s disastrous House committee hearing appearance, are what led to her resigning under pressure. And the fact that the politics are what prompted the backlash did not sit well with many on the left and in academia, Hochschild among them.

Like fellow prominent Gay critic Bill Ackman, a billionaire donor to the university, Rufo lists among his accomplishments his Harvard degree. CNN reporter and left wing writer Daniel Strauss took issue with that in an article at New Republic last year, writing that because Rufo attended night school from Harvard Extension School it’s not really the real thing.

Professor Hochschild, who teaches at HES, made the same implication about both the degree and the students in her own attempt to discredit Rufo.

She derisively used the term “integrity police” in her post on X as a sarcastic implication that the people who were behind exposing Gay’s plagiarism do not actually care about integrity, then said that an HES degree is not really a Harvard degree, HES students are not really Harvard students, and the overall message being that to say otherwise is also a lapse in integrity.

On Rufo: what do integrity police say about his claim to have “master’s degree from Harvard,” which is actually from the open-enrollment Extension School? Those students are great – I teach them- but they are not the same as what we normally think of as Harvard graduate students

— Jennifer hochschild (@Jenniferhochsc2) January 5, 2024

Her sentiment was echoed by former Trump adviser A.J. Delgado.

After being called out, the professor attempted to mitigate her criticism of HES students without much success. But it was not just right wingers or Rufo who called the professor out.

The Harvard Extension School is open enrollment, meaning that while the courses and standards and professors are the same, one doesn’t have to go through the same exact selection process that one goes through to attend in person — which is not to say the students don’t have to meet their own standards.

The school took exception to the implications and, without naming Hochschild, put out a statement this week to correct the record.

“We, the Harvard Extension Student Association (HESA) Board, are deeply concerned and disappointed by the recent comments made by a Harvard Extension School professor on the social media platform, X,” it said. “The remarks in question implied that a degree from our institution is a mark of lesser qualification.”

The statement noted that Hochschild attempted to mitigate her comments in replies on social media, but emphasized that this did not change her initial sentiment.

“Although the professor attempted to backtrack on her statements, the initial message conveyed a different sentiment, one that undermines the value and reputation of our institution,” the board wrote. “We firmly oppose any notion that undermines the hard work, dedication, and professional acumen of our peers and alumni.”

“Generalizations that denigrate HES students do more than unjustly diminish individual achievements; they erode the foundational values of diversity, respect, and academic rigor that are essential to the fabric of Harvard University, and all of its degree-granting schools,” said the statement.

Eventually, Hochschild offered what she described as a “clarification” after what she said was a request to do so, and which was the precise opposite of what she said the tweet she was “clarifying” — which as the HES board noted undermined and denigrated graduates of the school.

“I was asked to clarify, and am glad to do so: HES courses are Harvard U courses (often the same as in FAS, as for my courses),” said Hochschild.

“HES bachelor’s and master’s degrees are Harvard U degrees,” she said, in contradiction of the purpose of her first tweet suggesting duplicity by Rufo in calling his degree a Harvard degree. “HES is a school in Harvard U analogous to other schools. HES students are Harvard U students.”

I was asked to clarify, and am glad to do so: HES courses are Harvard U courses (often the same as in FAS, as for my courses). HES bachelor’s and master’s degrees are Harvard U degrees. HES is a school in Harvard U analogous to other schools. HES students are Harvard U students

— Jennifer hochschild (@Jenniferhochsc2) January 12, 2024

Rufo of course highlighted the reversal in his own message on X.

This is awesome. You dumped on your own school in an attempt to delegitimize my degree, then turned around and said it is, in fact, a wonderful, rigorous, and bona fide Harvard degree. You made a fool of yourself not once, but twice. That takes commitment.

— Christopher F. Rufo (@realchrisrufo) January 12, 2024

Finally on Saturday, Hochschild stated her “regret” that HES students and staff “got dragged into” the dispute over Rufo’s HES credentials, and said she was “sorry” that her doing so “seemed” to suggest what it suggested.

On this maelstrom, mainly to HES students/staff: I regret that you got dragged into a dispute with nothing to do with you, that caused distress.I endorse and admire HES’s promotion of an inclusive, engaged, ambitious student body. I'm sorry my writing seemed to suggest otherwise.

— Jennifer hochschild (@Jenniferhochsc2) January 13, 2024

The Harvard Crimson on Friday also published a comment from Hochschild.

“I am sorry that my comments were understood to imply a ‘sentiment . . . that undermines the value and reputation of our institution,’ and that they caused HES students and staff distress,” the Crimson quoted. “That is far from my views; Harvard is rightly proud of the quality of and access to education manifested every day by HES.”

That statement notably did not contain the specific endorsement of the degree as a Harvard degree which was later reflected in the post she was asked to write on X.

The Crimson has more on reaction from students to Hochschild’s comments here.
 

The post Harvard Professor Forced To Awkwardly Backtrack After Denigrating Harvard Grads In Attempted Own On Conservative Writer first appeared on Mediaite.

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