Dear Members of the Harvard Community,
It was the best of times, and it was the worst of times. Four score and seven years ago, Our fathers brought forth, upon this venerable academic continent, a university conceived in wisdom and dedicated to the proposition that all students and faculty members are created equal in their ability to use the internet.
It is with a heart full of mixed Google search results that I tender my resignation as the President of this distinguished university. I do this not because I have to (well, technically I do), but because it seems like the right excerpt to use at this momentous juncture.
In parting, I believe that we need to ask not what Harvard University can do for you, but ask what you can do for Harvard. I have endeavored to uphold our time-honored tradition of creative borrowing. From the hallowed texts of Wikipedia to the obscure PDFs buried in the third page of Google search results, we have embraced all.
As I step down, I want to leave you with a thought (not mine, of course, but why break with tradition now?). Remember, To be or not to be, that is the question. I have chosen 'not to be... the president anymore. Hamlet had his existential crisis, and I have mine.
In conclusion, this is one small step for me, but one giant leap out of the academic integrity spotlight at Harvard University. I will cherish my memories at Harvard University, much like I cherish those well-crafted words I found online and used in my thesis.
May your footnotes be many and your citations accurate. As for me, I’ll be embarking on a new journey, perhaps in a field less concerned with originality. Politics, anyone?
Sincerely,
Claudine Gay
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