A private equity CEO has criticized the University of Pennsylvania for allowing a pro-Palestine festival to be held on campus, where some speakers allegedly called for violence against Jews just weeks before the Hamas attack on Israel.
In the letter, Mr. Rowan said that Palestine Writes—a Palestinian literature festival held at the university campus in September—featured “well-known antisemites and fomenters of hate and racism.”
Instead of focusing on Palestinian arts, culture, and poetry, event presenters focused on Jews, Israel, and Zionism, he said.
“One speaker advocated ethnic cleansing and gathering all of Israel’s Jews into ‘cantons’; another defended the necessity and propriety of substantial violence; and numerous speakers repeated various blood libels against Jews, whom they referred to as ‘European settlers’ despite their 3,000-year presence in Israel,” he wrote.
“It took less than two weeks to go from the Palestine Writes literary festival on the University of Pennsylvania’s campus to the barbaric slaughter and kidnapping of Israelis,” he said, referring to the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack in Israel.
University Funding Threatened
Mr. Rowan criticized UPenn President Elizabeth Magill and Board of Trustees Chair Scott Bok for allowing the university to be associated with the event and for failing to condemn “this hate-filled call for ethnic cleansing,“ which he said ”normalized and legitimized violence that ranged from the targeting of Jewish students and spaces here to the horrific attacks in Israel.”Over the past year, UPenn lost more than $150 million in funds, including a $100 million grant that went to the University of Chicago, Mr. Rowan said.
“I expect this cost to increase substantially,” based on the 4,000 signatories of the open letter, he added.
“I call on all UPenn alumni and supporters who believe we are heading in the wrong direction to ‘close their checkbooks’ until President Magill and Chairman Bok resign,” he said in his letter.
The open letter signed by alumni and supporters of the university had expressed “deep concerns” over featuring “known antisemitic speakers” at the Palestine Writes event.
They warned that “providing a platform for such extremely antisemitic voices will undermine the sense of security and belonging for Jewish students at UPenn and beyond” and asked the university to do everything “within its power to distance itself from the event’s antisemitic speakers.”
It asked that UPenn issue a statement “specifically denouncing” the platforming of antisemitic speakers at the event, displaying “the same forcefulness” as it would in response to events steeped in anti-black racism, anti-Asian hate, or anti-LGBT bias.
University Statement
On Sept. 12, Ms. Magill and other leaders of the university issued a statement admitting that many people have “raised deep concerns” regarding several speakers at Palestine Writes who have a “documented and troubling history of engaging in antisemitism.”However, the university insisted that “we also fiercely support the free exchange of ideas as central to our educational mission. This includes the expression of views that are controversial and even those that are incompatible with our institutional values.”
In an emailed statement to The Epoch Times, Mr. Bok said, “Mr. Rowan is a respected alumnus and benefactor of the University and is entitled to his views. But it is a falsehood for him to say that the University sought to ‘purge’ dissenting Trustees from Penn’s Board in relation to the Palestinian Writes Literature Festival.
“Every individual is fully entitled to their own views. However, when an individual joins a board, they implicitly commit to participating in a confidential and deliberative decision-making process, where all views are welcome in the debate. Once a leadership team has done appropriate consultation and reached a decision, it is extraordinarily unusual in a corporate, university or nonprofit context for a board member to publicly oppose that decision, let alone solicit others to join their dissenting view.
“Our Trustee Executive Committee, after thoughtful deliberation, concluded that we would not force the resignation of anyone who took that unusual step. We did make known to two Trustees pursuing that unusual step that they could consider voluntarily resigning, thereby freeing them from all the constraints involved in serving on a board. Those individuals chose not to resign, and they remain welcome as members of Penn’s board.”
Julie Platt, Vice Chair of Penn’s Board of Trustees, said, “As Vice Chair of Penn’s Board of Trustees and past President of the Penn Alumni Board of Directors, I join with the many members of the Penn family in expressing solidarity with all those who have been impacted by the horrific assault on Israel by Hamas and in condemning these hateful acts of terror. The University has publicly committed to unprecedented steps to further combat antisemitism on its campus, reaffirmed deep support for our Jewish community, and condemned the devastating and barbaric attacks on Israel by Hamas. The Executive Committee of Penn’s Board of Trustees has unanimously endorsed the actions taken by the University, and I have full confidence in the leadership of President Liz Magill and Chair Scott Bok.”
Mr. Rowan’s letter has received praise online.
“I’m a proud Penn alum grateful for the education I received. And I agree with Scott Rowan of Apollo that President Magill should resign,” Elie Seidman, former CEO of Tinder, said in an Oct. 12 post on X.
“An extremely thoughtful letter from Marc Rowan to the University of Pennsylvania community and the world,” hedge fund manager Bill Ackman said in an Oct. 12 X post.
