i stand before you on this stage with the weight and the honor of being a first able to say i am claudine gay, the president of harvard university. >> on september 29th claudine gay addressed a crowd of students and colleagues at harvard university for the first time as president of that institution. that moment made history not only because she became the first black person to lead the university but because as she noted that day, arriving at that particular point in history was a journey. in a speech called "courage to be harvard," she reminded her audience, quote, not 400 yards from where i stand some four centuries ago four enslaved people lived and worked in