John Buttrick writes from his Vermont Rocker in his Concord home, Minds Crossing. He can be reached at johndbuttrick@gmail.com

The congressional hearing concerning antisemitism became a controversy when college presidents being interviewed stumbled over a question asked by congressional Representative Elise Stefanik of New York.

It was a “yes” or “no” question, “Does the calling for the genocide of Jews violate Harvard’s conduct rules?” Claudine Gay, the president of Harvard, answered, “it depends on the context.”

According to Annie Karni, a congressional correspondent for The New York Times, with her answer, “Gay had fallen into something of a prosecutorial trap laid by Ms. Stefanik.” President Gay was criticized by some students and alumni and later apologized for appearing to refuse to condemn genocide.

As an academic, President Gay understands that college education includes a consideration of context in studies, for example, of history, sciences, literature, social sciences, and the arts. Understanding the context of a subject increases knowledge and encourages strong reasoning skills. Context is expansive and nuanced. In an educational setting, President Gay would have been committed to giving an accurate and reasoned answer that would not be satisfied with a simple “yes” or “no.”

Her resistance to giving the simple answer may also have been the result of insight into the underlying content of the question. Congresswoman Stefanik had already tried four times to get the college presidents to agree with her that calls for “intifada” and slogans such as “from the river to the sea” advocated genocide of Jews. It seems that her final question was cast to force an agreement of her genocide definition. President Gay suggested that giving the context would allow a more precise answer. For example, one could agree that genocide is abhorrent while disagreeing that “intifada” and “from the river to the sea” are genocidal expressions. A simple “yes” or “no” would not be sufficient to explain this nuance.

It seems evident that knowing a context is one of the major factors for clarity and understanding. Demanding a context is not an attempt to dodge answering an either/or question. It is an attempt to give a thorough and comprehensive answer. Insisting on a context may expose knee-jerk reactions based upon limited information, misinformation, conspiracy theories, or false narratives. Dismissing context corrupts current debates over college curriculum.

Context is important for understanding of students who feel threatened in conversation about race, gender, or the Israel/ Gaza war. Context includes revealing sources of information. It requires seeking out why a belief or commitment is so important, rationally and emotionally.

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Until we accept the role of context in discussions and commitments, the country will continue to experience a divide based on unexplored shaky foundations. Yet it is a divide than can be crossed.

We may first begin with a question to ourselves: Why do I feel the way I do about an issue? What more information do I need? What makes me feel so anxious about the opinion of another person? The better we know ourselves the better we shall understand the other.

Harvard President Claudine Gay may be the educator to teach us the value of asking for context in our conversations and decisions. The impact of her story has influenced my writing this day.