- A group of Harvard alum, including Mitt Romney and billionaire Seth Klarman, are condemning its leadership.
- Harvard is the epicenter of tensions over universities' responses in the wake of Hamas' attacks.
- Donors and alums have criticized elite institutions for not taking a stronger stance against antisemitism.
Harvard remains in the hot seat over its response to Hamas' terrorist attacks in Israel and the resulting war.
On Monday, a group of Harvard alumni including Senator Mitt Romney and billionaire investor Seth Klarman wrote an open letter slamming the school's leadership and its response to purported antisemitism on campus.
"This is not leadership," the letter read. "Your silence as the situation intensifies is both astounding and frightening."
The letter asked that Harvard leadership take four actions:
-
Restate and enforce the school's code of conduct
-
Restrict on-campus protests to only students
-
Require that protests be pre-planned and scheduled
-
Create a mandatory course that "that teaches productive discourse, critical thinking, and the interrogation of facts"
The letter's other authors are venture capitalist Bill Helman, former Bain partner Mark Nunnelly, and philanthropist Joanna Jacobson. The letter has been signed by more than 900 people.
"We know from studying the worst episodes of human history that violence must be nipped in the bud, bullies must be confronted, and inaction and handwringing incentivizes more acts of hate," the letter said.
A Harvard spokesperson told Insider that the school has already taken actions to close parts of its campus to those with Harvard IDs.
"Various rallies, vigils and demonstrations have been held on Harvard's campus over the last two weeks, but across all of the reporting of these gatherings by news outlets, they have not been characterized as 'violent,'" the spokesperson added.
"Our university rejects terrorism — that includes the barbaric atrocities perpetrated by Hamas," Harvard president, Claudine Gay said in a video statement.
Harvard has been at the center of the tensions around universities' responses to the crisis in Israel and Gaza.
Following the terrorist attacks, a coalition of student groups dubbed the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups released a joint statement that said the Israeli government was "entirely responsible for all unfolding violence."
Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, a Harvard alum and donor, called on the university to release the names of students in the groups that signed the letter, "so as to insure that none of us inadvertently hire any of their members."
Other alums condemned Harvard's response to both the terrorist attacks and the student letter. Billionaire Les Wexner pulled his funds, and Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer and his wife Batia stepped down from their positions on the executive board of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.
Harvard's fellow Ivy League institution the University of Pennsylvania has also been a focal point of campus conflict, with many deep pocketed donors withdrawing their financial support.
While the public and alumni responses may not have any significant short-term effects on the schools, they could lead have longer reputational impacts.
"As prominent donors withdraw support, other donors may take that as a signal of the loss of institutional focus on education, and these many smaller donors may decide that they too should withdraw support," Michael Hemesath, a professor of economics at Carleton College and the former president of Saint John's University, previously told Insider.