University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) is facing a decline in financial backing from influential donors due to its responses to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and alleged antisemitism on campus.
Billionaire Clifford Asness, a UPenn alumnus, is the latest major donor to close off his checkbook from the Ivy League school.
“Of course, most distressing to me was your first statement making vague equivalences between the intentional murder of children (and others) by terrorists and the accidental injury to children that sadly occurs when murdering terrorists hide behind children to escape justice,” the 57-year-old billionaire wrote.
Mr. Asness added that he’d recently completed his five-year pledge payments to UPenn and “will not be considering another until such meaningful change is evident.”
UPenn Loses Deep-pocket Donors
Mr. Asness wasn’t the sole donor to withdraw funding from UPenn amidst the uproar over the controversial Palestinian Writers fest and the war in the Middle East.In an Oct. 10 letter to The Daily Pennsylvanian—published by eJewish Philanthropy— Mr. Rowan wrote: “Two weeks and more than 1,000 slaughtered and kidnapped Israeli civilians later, UPenn has still not condemned the hate-filled Palestine Writes festival.”
He urged all UPenn alumni and supporters who disagree with the current direction to cut off their funding until President Magill and Penn Board of Trustees Chairman Scott L. Bok step down.
Tension Boils Over Israel-Hamas War
The ramifications of campus discourses around the ongoing Israel-Hamas war have extended beyond academia, as alumni donors and prospective employers scrutinize student and school leadership responses to the matter.At Harvard, the backlash has already led to the financial withdrawal of the Wexner Foundation, a philanthropic organization established by Leslie Wexner and his wife, after 34 years of partnership. Citing Harvard University’s “tiptoeing, equivocating” handling of Hamas’ attacks, the Wexner Foundation announced it will sever its ties with the school, according to the Harvard Crimson.