Claudine Gay the Harvard University president who announced her resignation this week amid a right-wing campaign accusing her of antisemitism and plagiarism said Thursday that her ouster is part of a broader war to undermine public faith in the pillars of American society like academia.

Gay, who was Harvards first Black president and also serves as a professor of government and African American studies, penned an op-ed in The New York Times two days after she sent a letter to the Harvard community announcing she would step down as president and remain part of the faculty.

For weeks, both I and the institution to which Ive devoted my professional life have been under attack, she wrote in the Times. My character and intelligence have been impugned. My commitment to fighting antisemitism has been questioned. My inbox has been flooded with invective, including death threats. Ive been called the N-word more times than I care to count.

My hope is that by stepping down I will deny demagogues the opportunity to further weaponize my presidency in their campaign to undermine the ideals animating Harvard since its founding: excellence, openness, independence, truth, she continued.