Harvard President Claudine Gay might be safe for now, protected by the progressive system that put her in the position in the first place, but that doesn’t mean the university isn’t take hits left and right—reputationally, financially, and otherwise.
Billionaire alum Bill Ackman, whose been calling for Gay's resignation following her disastrous congressional testimony earlier this month, said he is “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” due to the president's “failures.”
The list has continued to grow since Ackman wrote that in his letter to Harvard earlier this month.
Billionaire Len Blavatnik and his family foundation have now paused donations to Harvard over Gay’s congressional testimony, during which she said context is necessary to determine whether calls for genocide against Jewish people would violate the school’s harassment and intimidation policies.
Blavatnik, a graduate of the Harvard Business School, said his funding would continue only if the university addresses rampant antisemitism on campus, Bloomberg reports.
The billionaire and his wife have contributed at least $270 million to Harvard over the years.
Another domino falls as billionaire Len Blavatnik (pictured here with wife Emily) pulls Harvard mega donation due to the school’s embarrassing failures fighting Jew hatred.
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) December 22, 2023
Kudos to the Blavatniks 👏 pic.twitter.com/X8UCoJmd5j
Big negative news for Harvard fundraising, though I'm not surprised. Len Blavatnik sits on the HMS (non fiduciary) Board of Fellows, and his gift named the Blavatnik Institute for Biomedical Research at Harvard Medical School. He is really dedicated to the success of the school,… https://t.co/HB56mr1mEA
— Jeffrey Flier (@jflier) December 21, 2023
"The problem Harvard has is that all their sources of revenue are strained," David Bergeron, a retired Education Department official, told Bloomberg. "Their ability to raise money is clearly strained and their ability to leverage federal programs is potentially at risk."
In addition to her response to the Israel/Hamas war, handling of antisemitism on campus, and her congressional testimony, Gay is also facing numerous allegations of plagiarism.