Antisemitism ‘context’ at Harvard costs the school another billionaire donor
Len Blavatnik has joined a “donor revolt” following Harvard University president Claudine Gay’s testimony before Congress that it depends on context whether calling for genocide against Jews violates school policy, Bloomberg reported.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin (front, center) and his wife Nechama Rivlin (front, left) host young scientists who have been received Blavatnik awards for research innovation on Feb. 4, 2018. The billionaire Len Blavatnik (back, 2nd rt) looks on. Credit: Mark Neyman/GPO
Blavatnik, who holds an M.B.A. from Harvard and is Jewish, is worth $31.8 billion, making him the world’s 47th richest person, according to Forbes. His family foundation has given at least $270 million to Harvard.
“Since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, alumni from billionaires to recent graduates have said they’re halting gifts until the school does more to address antisemitism. The tumult is tarnishing Harvard’s brand and damaging its carefully cultivated alumni network,” per Bloomberg.
“That in turn is threatening to dent the finances of the richest and oldest U.S. university at a time when its investment returns are lagging and Congress is considering ways to cut federal support,” it added.
David Bergeron, a former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of education, told the publication that Harvard’s revenue sources are “strained” and its “ability to raise money is clearly strained and their ability to leverage federal programs is potentially at risk.”
JNS
Qatar will fund the difference maybe we should rename Harvard to Qatarvard or Terorvard ?
Serve them right. Harvard needs a complete overhaul, as do other academic institutions, to reinstate education devoid of politicisation, ideology and wokeism. It would mean tackling this from administration all the way through to academic staff.