Ivy League schools face a multi-million dollar drop in funding after being blasted for not condemning Hamas terror attacks against Israel.
Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania have been hardest hit by the backlash — with a throng of alumni calling on the colleges to do better as some revoke their funding altogether.
Billionaires Ken Griffin and former US Ambassador Jon Huntsman Jr. stripped both prestigious universities of their support after compromising their stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The schools could lose a whopping $487 million in funding because of their stance, based on current and past donations by those speaking out against the colleges.
Griffin pledged $300 million to Harvard this year alone, but threatened to withdraw it after contacting the head of the University Council to complain about the lukewarm response from President Claudine Gay.
Ken Griffin ((pictured) pledged $300 million to Harvard, but the funding is now in jeopardy after he complained about the lack of response from President Claudine Gay
The Wexner Foundation is pulling their support entirely from the school, having donated at least $56 million over the course of 30 years
The latest setback for Harvard has led the Wexner Foundation to withdraw its support from the school entirely, after donating at least $56 million over the course of 30 years.
In a statement, the foundation said it was “stunned and sickened” by Harvard’s failure to take a “clear and unequivocal stance against the barbaric killings of innocent Israeli civilians.”
Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer and his wife Batia have stepped down from an executive board at Harvard after previously donating $20 million to the school.
Forbes valued their worth at $20 billion, among the world’s 100 richest people.
“Unfortunately, our faith in the University’s leadership has been broken and we cannot continue to support Harvard and its committees in good faith,” the couple said in a statement.
“We condemn those who try to blame the people of Israel for the atrocities committed by the terrorist organization, Hamas.”
The backlash came after 34 Harvard student groups signed a letter blaming Israel for Hamas’ massacre of Jewish people.
It said: ‘We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime fully responsible for all unfolding violence.’
Former US ambassador Jon Huntsman, who graduated from the university in 1987, also blasted the university and vowed to stop his families’ donations.
His father, Huntsman Sr, donated $50 million to the school until his death in 2018, with Jon saying the foundation would ‘close his chequebook’ on future donations
Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer and his wife Batia have stepped down from an executive board at Harvard after previously donating $20 million to the school
Posters of American and Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas plastered over Harvard#s with ‘kidnapped’ on top
More than a dozen business executives joined the call to blacklist the students, while the group lamented being persecuted in the aftermath.
Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman asked that the students be identified, to ensure that he and other CEOs would not hire them.
Ackman donated $17 million to Harvard in 2014, but his current stance of calling out the college for inaction implies that further funding will not be given.
Apollo CEO Marc Rowan called on those who donate to the University of Pennsylvania to pull their funding or send just $1 in protest.
The college has been hit with calls to sack two senior members of staff over allegations they made ‘anti-Semitic’ comments.
A graduate of UPenn’s Wharton Business School, Rowan donated $50 million to Wharton in 2018 with his wife.
Former US ambassador Jon Huntsman, who graduated from the university in 1987, also blasted the university and vowed to stop his families’ donations.
His father, Huntsman Sr, donated $50 million to the school until his death in 2018, with Jon saying the foundation would “close its checkbook” on future donations.
Pershing Square Capital Management CEO Bill Ackman (pictured) led the charge to name the students in the Harvard organizations that issued a statement blaming Israel for the Hamas attack
Protesters take part in an “Emergency Rally: Stand with Palestinians under siege in Gaza,” amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Saturday.
Apollo CEO Marc Rowan called on those who donate to the University of Pennsylvania to pull their funding or send just $1 in protest
Harvard’s Palestine Solidarity Committee sparked outrage last week by saying Israel was ‘fully responsible for all unfolding violence’ despite Hamas killing women and children
In a letter to Penn President Liz Magill, Huntsman said that Penn has “become deeply lost in ways that make it almost unrecognizable.”
“The University’s silence in the face of reprehensible and historic Hamas evil against the people of Israel (when the only response should be outright condemnation) is a new low,” he added.
“Silence is antisemitism, and antisemitism is hate, the very thing higher ed was built to prevent.”
Magill and Provost John L. Jackson previously issued a statement on the Hamas attacks, while Scott Bok, chairman of the University’s Board of Trustees, condemned the ‘horrific terrorist attacks’.
In an updated statement after the backlash, Magill condemned Hamas and emphasized the University’s stance on anti-Semitism.
She referred to the violence by Hamas as a ‘terrorist attack’, a change from her initial statement.
Harvard President Claudine Gay (pictured) has finally condemned the ‘terrorist atrocities committed by Hamas in Israel’ – in defiance of 34 student groups at the Ivy League institution that have pledged support for the militants
Pro-Palestine students march on the campus of the University of Massachusetts
JL Partners polled 1,000 Americans on October 10-12 for their views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the wake of the deadly Hamas attack that killed at least 1,300 people.
Bodies awaiting burial in Gaza City after Israeli airstrikes
As the chair of the Wharton School’s board of advisors, Rowan last week called for President Magill and Bok to step down, citing the University’s handling of anti-Semitism on campus.
Vice Chair of the University of Pennsylvania’s Board of Trustees, Julie Platt, said she stands behind Magill in a statement.
“The university has publicly committed to unprecedented steps to further combat anti-Semitism on its campus, reaffirmed deep support for our Jewish community and condemned the devastating and barbaric attacks on Israel by Hamas,” she said.
‘The executive committee of Penn’s board of trustees unanimously endorsed the actions of the university, and I have full confidence in the leadership of President Liz Magill and Chairman Scott Bok.’
