Billionaire Bill Ackman demands president of Harvard resign after she and presidents of MIT and UPenn refused to say if ‘calling for the genocide of Jews’ is harassment and goes against their college codes of conduct
A billionaire donor and Harvard alumnus has demanded the university president resign after she refused to say calling for genocide against Jews was harassment.
Bill Ackman, a hedge fund manager who donated $26 million to the university in 2014, said Tuesday he was outraged by Claudine Gay's actions.
Ackman, who is Jewish, accused her of “deep moral bankruptcy” and said she and other university presidents who spoke at a congressional hearing on Tuesday should “resign in disgrace.”
Gay was called to testify before the House of Representatives Education Committee, along with University of Pennsylvania President Elizabeth Magill and MIT President Sally Kornbluth, who is Jewish.
All three women were pressured by Elise Stefanik, the chair of the House Republican Conference, for their actions to root out anti-Semitism on their campuses.
Harvard President Claudine Gay will appear before the House of Representatives Education Committee on Tuesday to discuss anti-Semitism
University of Pennsylvania President Elizabeth Magill (left) and MIT President Sally Kornbluth (right) also testified Tuesday
The three universities have been rocked by a series of pro-Palestinian marches on their campuses in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack, with students blaming Israel for Hamas' terrorist outrage and saying the country deserved it.
Some academics have expressed fiercely anti-Israel views, and threats have been made against Jewish students on campus.
All three presidents have admitted that they were slow to distance themselves from student groups that justified the Oct. 7 massacres.
But they insisted they wanted to maintain a climate of free speech — and, to Stefanik's anger, refused to give a “yes or no” answer to questions about condemning certain rhetoric.
“I wonder, and specifically call for the genocide of the Jews: is that bullying or intimidation?” Stefanik asked.
Gay told her it depended on the context.
Stefanik responded that this was “the easiest question” and then replied, “The answer is yes.”
Stefanik pressed Gay about whether Harvard would punish students or applicants who advocate the murder of Jews.
Elise Stefanik, a Republican from New York, questioned the three university presidents on Tuesday
Gay responded, “That kind of hateful, reckless, offensive statement is personally abhorrent to me.”
She said the university has “robust policies” that hold individuals accountable when speech turns into behavior, such as bullying, harassment or intimidation.
“We embrace a commitment to free speech and give ample space to free expression, even views that are objectionable, outrageous and offensive,” Gay said.
At one point, Gay said, “I've tried to confront the hate while preserving free speech. This is difficult work and I know I haven't always done it right.'
But Stefanik said their answers were “unacceptable” and demanded that all three resign.
Ackman said he was shocked by the testimony.
Bill Ackman, who is worth $3.5 billion and earned his BA and MBA from Harvard University, blamed Gay for the “blatant” new anti-Semitism and said the hatred is caused by “your actions and inaction.”
Palestinian supporters gathered at Harvard University on October 14 to show their support for Gaza and their hatred of Israel at a rally in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Harvard's Palestine Solidarity Committee sparked outrage by writing on October 7 that Israel was “fully responsible for all the unfolding violence.” President Claudine Gay has been heavily criticized for failing to appropriately condemn the students who supported the statement
“This may be the most extraordinary testimony ever delivered in Congress, especially on the subject of genocide,” he wrote on X.
“The presidents' responses reflect the profound educational, moral and ethical failures that pervade some of our elite educational institutions, largely as a result of their failed leadership.”
He said the trio's answers would be unacceptable in the business world.
“If a CEO of one of our companies gave a similar answer, he or she would be toast within the hour,” he said.
Why has anti-Semitism exploded on campus and around the world?
'Because of leaders like Presidents Gay, Magill and Kornbluth who believe that genocide depends on context.
“To think that these are the leaders of Ivy League institutions charged with the responsibility of educating our best and brightest.”
His criticism of Gay comes just days after the billionaire posted an open letter on
The Jewish student organization Harvard Hillel said Gay's “refusal” to “draw a line” on threatening anti-Semitic statements is “deeply shocking.”
Harvard Hillel said they questioned the president's “ability to protect Jewish students on Harvard's campus.”
“We are shocked by the need to state the obvious: a call for genocide against Jews is always a hateful incitement to violence. “President Gay's failure to properly condemn this speech calls into question her ability to protect Jewish students on Harvard's campus,” Harvard Hillel said.
“Chants to globalize the Intifada,” a statement of support for violent terrorist attacks against Jewish and Israeli citizens, and “from the river to the sea,” an elimination slogan intended to deprive Jews of their right to self-determination in Israel, have become tragically routine at Harvard.”
Newly surfaced video shows a confrontation during a recent demonstration on the Harvard University campus, where pro-Palestinian protesters surrounded a student chanting “shame”
Protesters surround a man (with arms raised) as he moves through the yard during the October 18 protest at Harvard University, holding up keffiyehs (scarves) before sneaking into a nearby building.
Magill, the president of UPenn, was asked about her school's participation in a “Palestine Writes Festival” in September.
A complaint filed against Penn with the Department of Education names the festival as a catalyst for anti-Semitic incidents on campus. The speakers included several with a history of making anti-Semitic comments, such as Pink Floyd's Roger Waters.
She said anti-Semitic speeches at the event were “abhorrent” to her and that the institution had taken security measures.
“Why would you host someone like that on your campus?” asked Jim Banks, a Republican congressman for Indiana.
“Anti-Semitism has no place at Penn,” Magill began to respond.
Banks interrupted and asked, “Why did you invite Roger Waters?”
She concluded: “I think that canceling that conference would have been deeply contrary to academic freedom and free expression, despite the fact that I find the views of some of the people who came to that conference very, very objectionable because of their anti-Semitism. '