Influential Harvard alum Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, has been vocal in calling for the resignations of the three heads of Harvard, UPenn, and MIT over their disastrous testimonies on Capitol Hill last week. The House hearing came after their abysmal responses to antisemitic attacks on their respective campuses since the Israel-Hamas war began Oct. 7.
Now that UPenn president Liz Magill resigned over the weekend, the billionaire has turned his focus to Harvard’s Claudine Gay and MIT’s Sally Kornbluth.
In a letter to his alma mater, which he posted on X, Ackman said Gay’s moral and leadership failures have not only harmed Harvard’s reputation and put Jewish students at risk, it has also cost the school billions.
“President Gay’s failures have led to billions of dollars of cancelled, paused, and withdrawn donations to the university,” he wrote. “I am personally aware of more than a billion dollars of terminated donations from a small group of Harvard’s most generous Jewish and non-Jewish alumni. I have been copied and blind copied on numerous letters and emails to the University from alums who have written scathing letters to Gay and/or the Board withdrawing donations.”
Ackman also called on the board to review her history in light of recent allegations of plagiarism, and its own policies of “discriminating against those that don’t fit the look of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion."
Please see my letter today to @Harvard governing boards of directors:
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) December 10, 2023
December 10, 2023
Dear Members of the Harvard Governing Boards:
In her short tenure as President, Claudine Gay has done more damage to the reputation of Harvard University than any individual in our nearly…
Since posting the letter, Ackman has claimed sources told him Gay will remain in her position because the board fears it would look like "they were kowtowing to" him.
I have been told now by two reporters that one of the factors that made it challenging for the @Harvard board to fire Gay was that they were concerned it would look like they were kowtowing to me. https://t.co/QrgFHUVEJh
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) December 12, 2023