Billionaire Harvard alum excoriates university presidents over antisemitism hearing: 'Must resign in disgrace'
Bill Ackman wrote that the university heads should 'resign in disgrace' after their testimony on Tuesday
Billionaire Harvard alum excoriates university presidents over antisemitism hearing: 'Must resign in disgrace'
Billionaire and Harvard graduate Bill Ackman demands that the presidents of three prestigious universities should resign after they refused to say that calling for the genocide of Jews on their campuses breached their rules and led to harassment.
Billionaire and Harvard graduate Bill Ackman is demanding that the presidents of three prestigious universities "resign in disgrace" after they refused to say that calling for the genocide of Jews on their respective campuses breached their rules and amounted to harassment.
In a furious post on X, Ackman, the CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, blasted the presidents for failing to call out antisemitic protests that have taken place on their campuses since the Hamas Oct. 7 terrorist attacks and the subsequent onset of the Israel-Hamas war.
The presidents — Dr. Claudine Gay of Harvard, Liz Magill of UPenn and Dr. Sally Kornbluth of MIT — were grilled Tuesday by Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., during a House committee hearing on the rise of antisemitism on college campuses, with Ackman writing that their answers reflect the "profound educational, moral and ethical failures that pervade certain of our elite educational institutions due in large part to their failed leadership."
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Bill Ackman, founder and CEO of hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management, has called for the university presidents to resign. (Brendan McDermid / Getty Images)
Stefanik, the House GOP chair, asked the presidents if they considered calls for a "global intifada" against Jews on campuses as tantamount to a call for violent armed resistance against the state of Israel and the genocide of Jews. She asked whether such rhetoric violated the code of conduct or rules regarding bullying or harassment at those institutions.
Each president said that such rhetoric would only violate the rules if it crossed into conduct.
"The answers they gave reflect the profound moral bankruptcy of Presidents Gay, Magill and Kornbluth," Ackman wrote in his scathing post.
"Representative @EliseStefanik was so shocked with the answers that she asked each of them the same question over and over again, and they gave the same answers over and over again."
From left: Dr. Claudine Gay of Harvard, Liz Magill of Penn and Dr. Sally Kornbluth of MIT, appear Tuesday during testimony. Billionaire Bill Ackman is calling for the presidents to resign. (Haiyun Jiang/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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"In short, they said: It ‘depends on the context’ and ‘whether the speech turns into conduct,’ that is, actually killing Jews," Ackman wrote.
He wrote that their testimony could be "the most extraordinary testimony ever elicited in the Congress," while reminding his followers that the definition of genocide is the "deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group."
Ackman, who previously wrote to Gay demanding she crack down on antisemitism on campus, went on to call for her resignation, along with the resignations of Magill and Kornbluth.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., speaks during a House committee hearing on the rise of antisemitism on college campuses. (Haiyun Jiang/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
"They must all resign in disgrace," Ackman wrote.
"If a CEO of one of our companies gave a similar answer, he or she would be toast within the hour. Why has antisemitism exploded on campus and around the world? Because of leaders like Presidents Gay, Magill and Kornbluth who believe genocide depends on the context.
"To think that these are the leaders of Ivy League institutions that are charged with the responsibility to educate our best and brightest."
Claudine Gay, president of Harvard University, speaks during her testimony on Tuesday. (Haiyun Jiang/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Ackman also panned the presidents for their behavior during questioning.
"Throughout the hearing, the three behaved like hostile witnesses, exhibiting a profound disdain for the Congress with their smiles and smirks, and their outright refusal to answer basic questions with a yes or no answer," he wrote.
Ackman heaped praise on congressional leaders for their code of conduct and their lines of questioning throughout the hearing.
From left, Dr. Claudine Gay of Harvard, Liz Magill of Penn, billionaire Bill Ackman and Dr. Sally Kornbluth. Ackman wrote that the university heads should "resign in disgrace" after their testimony on Tuesday. (Getty / Getty Images)
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"It was a masterclass of how our government and democracy should operate," he wrote and implored his followers to watch the entire hearing.
Ackman also made headlines in October after he called on Harvard to reveal the names of students who signed a letter blaming the Hamas terror attacks on Israel so he and other executives could avoid hiring them in the future.
On Sunday, Ackman posted an open letter to social media slamming his alma mater for having what he described as "discriminatory practices" against White males, Asians and conservatives.