Jewish billionaire Henry Swieca resigns from Board of Columbia Business School over ‘blatantly anti-Jewish student groups’ on campus

A Jewish billionaire has resigned from the Columbia Business School board over the Ivy League’s acceptance of “blatantly anti-Jewish student groups.”

Philanthropist Henry Swieca, 66, sent his alma matter a letter on Oct. 30 explaining that he was resigning from the board because he needed to “take a principled stand” after student protests during the war between Israel and Hamas.

In the letter, he wrote, “Now that blatantly anti-Jewish student groups and professors are allowed to operate with complete impunity, a clear and disturbing message is being sent that Jews are not only unwelcome, but unsafe on campus.

“To my deep regret, the reputation and integrity of Columbia University, and by extension Columbia Business School, have been significantly damaged by a moral cowardice that seems irreparable… My resignation is an expression of my deep concern about the direction in which the University is headed away.’

It comes as Colombian President Minouche Shafik praised the “perseverance” of students accused of anti-Semitism and supporting Hamas and announced the creation of a “Doxing Resource Group” for students targeted after expressing their views have expressed.

Shafik added, “We are grateful for the perseverance and perseverance of the students and their families in the face of this harassment.”

Swieca, a Wall Street veteran, said the school’s statements against last month’s Hamas terrorist attacks are “pointless” because it has given “pro-Hamas students” the opportunity to protest on campus.

The billionaire added, “This is abhorrent… Any other minority group on campus would never have to deal with anything approaching this level of harassment and hatred against Jewish and pro-Israel students.”

Columbia Business Assistant Professor Shai Davidai called Swieca a “brave and honorable member” after the letter’s release.

Following Swieca’s resignation from the board, a Columbia spokesperson said Shafik and the school are “concerned about the safety and security of all its students and community members.”

Swieca, the son of Holocaust survivors, founded Talpion Fund Management in 2010 and subsequently co-founded Highbridge Capital Management.

Since 2014, he has served on the business school’s Board of Overseers.

America’s most prestigious universities have found themselves in hot water after allowing pro-Palestinian protests following the Hamas attacks that killed more than a thousand Israelis on October 7.

Days after Hamas’s attacks, Columbia’s Students for Justice in Palestine said Hamas’ actions were a “counteroffensive against their settler-colonial oppressor.”

The statement sparked angry scenes, echoed at colleges and universities across the country, with students and staff agitating and donors threatening to withdraw their funding.

Some students who publicly defended Hamas had their job offers withdrawn. Billionaire investor Leon Cooperman has threatened to cut off donations to his alma mater over student support for Palestine.

The school saw a wave of anti-Israel protests after the terror attack, in which an Israeli student was beaten with a stick by a teenager who allegedly pulled down posters of Jewish hostages taken by Hamas.

Meanwhile, nearly 300 Columbia employees signed a letter condemning their colleagues for defending students who said the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack was justified. They said they were “surprised” and “shocked” that anyone could condone the killings.

The letter came 24 hours after more than a hundred employees of the Ivy League college spoke out in support of Students for Justice in Palestine. The letter claims that students view the ambush within the larger context of Palestinian oppression by the Israeli government.

Top schools have become a focal point of Israel’s escalating military offensive in Gaza aimed at destroying Hamas militants who killed and captured hundreds of people, mostly civilians, last month.

A DailyMail.com/TIPP poll shows that almost two-thirds of respondents to our survey – 63 percent – ​​say elite schools are failing to meet the challenge of hateful rhetoric. Another 14 percent disagreed and 23 percent said they were not sure.

Rights groups have warned that Jewish and Israeli students face abuse on campuses, where left-wing student groups and professors often side with Palestinians and rail against Israeli oppression.

In some cases, the rhetoric has expanded to vocal support for armed resistance against Israel, and clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel protesters have led to violence.

The Ivy-League schools were also joined by a group from Northwestern University called Justice in Palestine, which said they “stand unwavering in our commitment to highlighting the profound injustices facing the Palestinian people.” .

Meanwhile, the president of the New York University Law School Bar Association president had a job offer from a pro-LGBTQ+ law firm rescinded after she declared that Hamas’ child slaughter in Israel was “necessary.”

In Berkeley, the group Bears for Palestine expressed support for Hamas’ actions and “denounced the framing of Israel as a victim” hours after the terrorist organization’s attack.

Organizations from other schools in the state that also signed the letter include several groups at UCLA, such as the Arab Student Union and the Asian Pacific Coalition.

Several SJP chapters from other schools in California and other states also supported the statement. Students for Justice in Palestine was founded in 2001 at UC Berkeley and has more than 200 chapters in the United States, Canada and New Zealand.

Tufts’ Students for Justice in Palestine group called the terrorists “liberation fighters paragliding into occupied territory,” adding that they had “above all demonstrated the creativity necessary to take back stolen land.”