Hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman is calling for the presidents of Harvard, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania to “resign in disgrace,” citing disgust with their testimony at a House hearing Tuesday on antisemitism on campus.
“Throughout the hearing, the three behaved like hostile witnesses,” Ackman wrote in a post on X, “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.”
Ackman, a Harvard graduate who has been a vocal critic of how universities have addressed antisemitism, took particular issue with how the presidents answered a question on Tuesday about whether calling for the genocide of Jews violates their respective school’s code of conduct on bullying or harassment.
None of the school leaders explicitly said that calling for the genocide of Jews would necessarily violate their code of conduct. Instead, they explained it would depend on the circumstances and conduct.
“They must all resign in disgrace. If a CEO of one of our companies gave a similar answer, he or she would be toast within the hour,” Ackman said on X. “The answers they gave reflect the profound moral bankruptcy of Presidents Gay, Magill and Kornbluth.”
In response to Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik asking whether calling for the genocide of Jews would violate Penn’s code of conduct, Penn President Liz Magill said: “It is a context dependent decision.”
Stefanik responded with shock.
“That’s your testimony today? Calling for the genocide of Jews is dependent on the context? That is not bullying or harassment? This is the easiest question to answer yes for,” Stefanik said.
Ackman strongly criticized the response.
“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,” Ackman said.
Ackman has been publicly feuding with Harvard’s administration and some students over reports of rising antisemitism on campus. In an open letter last month, he said Harvard’s lack of action to rein in antisemitism threatened its funding from donors. And he called on the university to publicly name students who were members of student groups that blamed Israel for Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.
However, Ackman has gone easy on fellow billionaire Elon Musk, who endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory on X, leading to a revolt from advertisers. Ackman defended Musk in a post on X last week, saying, “After examining the facts, it was clear to me that Musk did not have antisemitic intent” when Musk said a conspiracy theory that Jews were trying to replace White people with immigrants was “the actual truth.”
Musk has since apologized for his post, calling it his “worst” and “dumbest” social media post.
At one point during Tuesday’s hearing Stefanik asked Harvard President Claudine Gay if the Ivy League school would punish students or applicants who say, “from the river to the sea” or “intifada.”
Gay explained that type of “hateful, reckless, offensive speech” is “abhorrent” to her.
“Do you believe that type of hateful speech is contrary to Harvard’s code of conduct or is it allowed at Harvard?” Stefanik, who graduated from Harvard, pressed Gay.
“It is at odds with the value of Harvard, but … we embrace a commitment to free expression even of views that are objectionable, offensive, hateful,” Gay said.
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