Billionaire Harvard megadonor Ken Griffin has suspended contributions to his embattled alma mater, criticizing its handling of campus antisemitism and comparing students at elite universities to “whiny snowflakes.”
Mr. Griffin made a $300 million gift to the university just last April. When asked whether he will continue to support Harvard financially, he stunned the audience Tuesday at the Managed Funds Association networking conference in Miami by replying: “No.”
“I’d like that to change, and I’ve made that clear to members of the corporate board,” Mr. Griffin said. “But until Harvard makes it very clear that they’re going to resume their role as educating young American men and women to be leaders, to be problem solvers, to take on difficult issues, I’m not interested in supporting the institution.”
The CEO of the Citadel financial firm joins a growing list of prominent Ivy League donors who have paused their giving over the surge of pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protests on campus following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israeli civilians.
Those boycotting Harvard include billionaire Leonard Blavatnik and the Wexner Foundation, founded by Bath & Body Works founder Leslie Wexner, which accused Harvard of “tiptoeing” around the terrorist attack instead of forcefully condemning it.
Another Harvard grad, billionaire Bill Ackman, estimated that Harvard has lost more than $1 billion in paused or canceled donations over its Oct. 7 response.
Billionaire Ken Griffin, who gave Harvard $300 million last year:
— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) January 30, 2024
“I’m not interested in supporting the institution.”
He asks if Harvard will return to educating young people to be leaders or remain “lost in the wilderness” of DEI. pic.twitter.com/exLdTqHnv8
Mr. Griffin made a $300 million gift to the university just last April. When asked whether he will continue to support Harvard financially, he stunned the audience Tuesday at the Managed Funds Association networking conference in Miami by replying: “No.”
“I’d like that to change, and I’ve made that clear to members of the corporate board,” Mr. Griffin said. “But until Harvard makes it very clear that they’re going to resume their role as educating young American men and women to be leaders, to be problem solvers, to take on difficult issues, I’m not interested in supporting the institution.”
The CEO of the Citadel financial firm joins a growing list of prominent Ivy League donors who have paused their giving over the surge of pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protests on campus following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israeli civilians.
Those boycotting Harvard include billionaire Leonard Blavatnik and the Wexner Foundation, founded by Bath & Body Works founder Leslie Wexner, which accused Harvard of “tiptoeing” around the terrorist attack instead of forcefully condemning it.
Another Harvard grad, billionaire Bill Ackman, estimated that Harvard has lost more than $1 billion in paused or canceled donations over its Oct. 7 response.
Mr. Griffin, one of the world’s richest people with an estimated net worth of $37 billion, has given more than $500 million to the school, making him “arguably one of the most generous Harvard donors in the university’s modern history,” The Harvard Crimson reported.
He said prestigious universities like Harvard need to decide which path to take.
“Will America’s elite universities get back to their roots of educating American children, young adults, to be the future leaders of our country?” Mr. Griffin asked. “Or are they going to maintain being lost in the wilderness of microaggressions, a [diversity, equity and inclusion] agenda that seems to have no real ending, and just being lost in the wilderness?”
He said students are “caught up in the rhetoric of oppressor and oppressee” and called them “whiny snowflakes.”
Mr. Griffin, who was interviewed on stage by CNBC correspondent Leslie Picker, reiterated that he would not hire anyone who signed the letter from 34 Harvard student groups blaming the attack on Israel.
He also took a swipe at the three university presidents who said during a Dec. 5 House committee hearing that whether calls for “genocide of Jews” would violate their codes of conduct would depend on the context.
Two of the presidents — Harvard’s Claudine Gay and the University of Pennsylvania’s Liz Magill — have since resigned. Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Sally Kornbluth has remained in office with the support of MIT Corp.
“There is no room in my world for antisemitism and for calls for genocide. There’s just not,” Mr. Griffin said. “It was heartbreaking to me to watch the testimony in front of Congress when asked a very simple question about ‘How would you react to calls for genocide on campus?’”
He said that “this is a simple answer. You can ask my lawyers, but I’m going to tell you as the president of fill-in-the-blank university: There is no tolerance for calls for genocide on my campus.”
A major Republican Party donor, Mr. Griffin has contributed $5 million in recent months to a super PAC supporting GOP presidential hopeful Nikki Haley, his spokesperson told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify Ken Griffin’s remarks about students at elite universities.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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