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Updated May 8, 2025, at 5:39 p.m.

Harvard University Police Department Chief Victor A. Clay abruptly resigned Thursday afternoon, nearly four years after joining the department with a mandate to reform it after his predecessor departed in controversy.

Clay announced his resignation — effective immediately — in an email to department staff Thursday afternoon, which was obtained by The Crimson. His office was packed up earlier Thursday, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Clay’s departure follows rising tensions in Harvard’s police force. Earlier this semester, 34 out of 35 respondents on a membership survey conducted by the Harvard University Police Association — the union representing HUPD officers — said they lacked confidence in Clay.

The same number of respondents agreed in the survey that Clay has not “managed the Department in an open, ethical and fair manner” or “shown respect and appreciation” for officers’ work.

Clay informed Harvard Executive Vice President Meredith L. Weenick ’90 of his intent to resign earlier Thursday, according to his email.

Assistant Chief of Police Denis G. Downing will replace Clay in the interim, according to an email sent by Weenick to department staff later Thursday afternoon and obtained by The Crimson.

Francis D. “Bud” Riley, who led HUPD before Clay, resigned in 2020 after a Crimson investigation revealed decades of racist and sexist incidents in the department.

Spokespeople for HUPD and the University did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Clay arrived at HUPD in July 2021 and committed to reforming the department on the heels of an external review, released in December 2020, which recommended steep changes to the University’s police. He promised to improve HUPD’s handling of student mental health crises, and develop a closer working relationship with Harvard Human Resources.

A planned proposal to hire five unarmed Campus Support Officers never bore fruit.

Clay also quickly shook up HUPD’s staff, ousting much of Riley’s top brass and establishing new roles in senior leadership.

Clay wrote in his resignation email that, since he took office in 2021, he has aimed “to keep the campus and its diverse community safe.”

“I believe that we have begun that journey and have made significant strides toward those goals,” Clay wrote. “But I also knew that the change process would be difficult.”

“I believe it is in the best interest to give new leadership an opportunity to continue moving the department forward,” he added.

Clay’s tenure is the shortest of a Harvard police chief since the 1970s, when David L. Gorski resigned after less than two years. Gorski stepped down in 1977 after a feud with the police union over his reorganization and professionalization of the department.

—Staff writer Matan H. Josephy can be reached matan.josephy@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @matanjosephy.

—Staff writer Laurel M. Shugart can be reached at laurel.shugart@thecrimson.com. Follow them on X @laurelmshugart.