US universities lose millions as donors pull funding over
Donors are withdrawing millions of dollars in planned funding to punish US universities for their responses to Hamas’ attack on Israel, in a stand-off over free speech, higher education funding and academic leaders’ public responsibilities. Billionaire benefactors including Apollo Global Management’s Marc Rowan and Limited Brands founder Leslie Wexner have called for stronger condemnation of Hamas and antisemitism by universities, and tougher action against students protesting against Israel. Law and investment firms have threatened to rescind job offers they had made to students, or not hire protesters when they graduate.
The pressure has left universities including Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and Stanford struggling to contain a growing crisis, with some revising earlier statements to be more outspoken. On Tuesday, Liz Magill, president of the University of Pennsylvania, said: “Penn stands emphatically against the terrorist attacks by Hamas in Israel and against antisemitism,” but acknowledged “we should have communicated faster and more broadly about where we stand”.
Bill Ackman the hedge fund billionaire, divided opinion online when he called last week on X, formerly Twitter, for Harvard to identify students behind a statement from societies on campus that held “the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence”. The move was needed “so as to insure that none of us inadvertently hire any of their members”, he argued. Davis Polk, the law firm, told the Financial Times it had withdrawn job offers to three Harvard and Columbia law school graduates linked to pro-Palestinian statements that expressed views “in direct contravention of our firm’s value system”.
Libra Rez executive director of the campaigning group StopAntisemitism, said she was aware of many other donors planning to cut funding. “There will be big hits to endowments. The dominoes are starting to fall. We encourage every single Jewish alum and their allies that until universities stop allowing pro-Hamas demonstrations, close your cheque books.” She argued that universities remaining silent “had no problems making statements when we saw horrific incidents surrounding the George Floyd murder, with support for African American students during Black Lives Matter [protests]. The only problem they seem to have is when their Jewish students are involved and vilified.”
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