The former CEO of Tinder canceled a speech at the University of Pennsylvania and branded the school an “anti-Semitic cesspool” in a scathing message posted on X.
I was scheduled to speak at Penn at the end of November. I’m canceling,” Ellie Seidman said. “Penn must ensure it is a safe and welcoming place for Jewish students – and not an anti-Semitic cesspool. A change in leadership is needed at this point,” he added.
His message comes as UPenn officials failed to control a series of pro-Palestinian protests that took place at the school in the wake of Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel, which left at least 1,300 people dead and where almost 200 people were taken hostage. .
It’s the latest blow to the college, which this week suffered the loss of major donors, including former Utah governor and presidential candidate Jon Huntsman. On Tuesday, David Magerman, who helped build Renaissance Technologies’ trading systems, announced he would withdraw his donations.
Magerman accused the school’s leadership of not participating in Israel’s “fight against evil.”
Former Tinder CEO Elie Seidman speaks at the 2018 Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit, this week calling his almamate an ‘anti-Semitic cesspool’
Seidman was joined in his criticism of UPenn by former US presidential candidate Jon Hunstman
Seidman’s message comes as UPenn officials failed to quell a series of pro-Palestinian protests that took place at the school in the wake of Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel.
His father, Huntsman Sr., donated $50 million to the school until his death in 2018, with Jon saying the foundation will “close its checkbook” to future donations
While Marc Rowan, CEO of Apollo Global Management, called on the school’s president, Liz Magill, to resign.
“It took less than two weeks to go from the Palestine Writes Literary Festival on the UPenn campus to the barbaric slaughter and kidnapping of Israelis,” Rowan said.
Seidman agreed with Rowan’s sentiments.
“I am a proud Penn alum and grateful for the education I received. And I agree with Scott Rowan of Apollo that President Magill should resign,” he wrote on X.
Before the start of the recent conflict, Seidman had not been active on the platform since March 2022. Since October 7, he has posted twelve times.
Before joining Tinder, Seidman was the CEO of dating site OKCupid and served on the board of the short-lived interactive trivia game HQ Trivia. He resigned from Tinder in July 2020.
He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1997 with a degree in materials science. Since leaving Tinder, Seidman has worked at venture capital firm Shine and is CEO of FastGrowingTrees.com.
This week, Magermann, a Torah-abiding Jew, accused UPenn’s leadership of failing to join “Israel’s fight against evil” in a letter to President Liz Magill and Chairman Scott Bok.
“I am deeply ashamed of my association with the University of Pennsylvania,” he said. “I refuse to donate another dollar to Penn.
“There is no action anyone at Penn can take to change that. You showed me who you are. My only remaining hope is that all self-respecting Jews and all moral citizens of the world will distance themselves from Penn.”
David Magerman, who helped build Renaissance Technologies’ trading systems, has criticized the prestigious university for their response to the conflict
Apollo CEO Marc Rowan has called on those who donate to the University of Pennsylvania to withdraw their funding or send just $1 in protest
University campuses (pictured at Harvard) have become a focal point of hostilities as the country grapples with the complex conflict in the Middle East
Pro-Israel students participate in a protest at Columbia University in New York City on October 12
Rowan is a graduate of UPenn’s Wharton Business School and, along with his wife, donated $50 million to Wharton in 2018.
In the October 15 letter, Magerman targeted Magill and Bok for what he described as their “fierce support for the Hamas-affiliated speakers at the Palestine Writes festival.”
Magerman, along with his wife, donated $5 million to the school in 2012 and continued to attack the board, saying, “Your ambiguous statements about the heinous acts of barbarity committed by the same Hamas that you allowed these speakers to promote.”
He said their dismissals would be “wholly inadequate” and accused them of using a “misguided moral compass” at the school.
University President Magill released a statement when contacted by MailOnline.com about Magerman’s letter.
“Alumni are important members of the Penn community. “I hear their anger, pain and frustration and am taking action to make it clear that I, and Penn, stand firmly against Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel and against anti-Semitism,” her statement said.
“As a university, we support and encourage the free exchange of ideas, along with a commitment to the safety and security of our community and the values we share and seek to promote. Penn has a moral responsibility to combat anti-Semitism and teach our community to recognize and reject hate in all its forms. I have said that we should have communicated more quickly and broadly about where we stand, but let there be no doubt that we are steadfast in our beliefs.”
Colleges across the country have issued statements about the war. Many have been criticized for not going far enough in condemning the Hamas attack, for failing to condemn the civilian deaths in Gaza, or for omitting context and history from the region.
The Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee and Harvard Graduate Students for Palestine organized a march from Harvard’s main campus in Cambridge to the business school in Boston
As of Saturday, the death toll stood at more than 2,200 in Gaza and more than 1,300 on the Israeli side – many of them civilians – with about 1,500 Hamas militants killed in the fighting, authorities said.
Stanford University, for example, has shifted more toward neutrality as events unfolded.
On Monday, California school officials said they were “deeply saddened and shocked by the death and human suffering” in Israel and Gaza and hoped for “thoughtful knowledge-sharing opportunities” on campus.
In response, dozens of teachers signed a letter demanding an “unequivocal condemnation” of the Hamas attacks.
On Wednesday, Stanford sent an “update” outlining its position on neutrality. Faculty and students “should not expect frequent comments from us in the future,” university officials said.
The letter from Interim President Richard Saller and Provost Jenny Martinez reported an incident in which a teacher allegedly singled out Jewish students in an undergraduate class, asked them to stand in a corner and told the audience that this is what Israel to the Palestinians. T
The teacher also reportedly called an Israeli student a colonizer.
The incident is under investigation and the teacher has been removed, Saller and Martinez said. “Academic freedom,” they said, “does not allow identity-based targeting of students.”
At Columbia University, the campus was closed Thursday as a security measure as hundreds attended dueling pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian rallies.
Some students were angry that a statement from the university president did not go far enough to acknowledge the Palestinian deaths.
“It is clear that we are all against violence, but we only ask that the lives of Palestinians are also recognized,” said Nadia Ali, who demonstrated along with hundreds of colleagues. Many were dressed in the green, red and black of the Palestinian flag and wore medical face masks.
On the main lawn of the Manhattan campus, demonstrators draped themselves in the blue and white Israeli flag and held prayer and song circles.
One protester, Yola Ashkenazie, said some Jewish students feel unsafe: “The rise of anti-Semitism on our campus is abhorrent.”
A day earlier, a 19-year-old woman was accused of assaulting a student in a dispute over posters bearing the names and images of hostages held by Hamas.
At Yale University, “Free Palestine” messages were written in chalk on campus one evening. The next evening, some students hung posters of hostage Israelis with the word “Kidnapped.”