The University of Pennsylvania appears to be in crisis mode as donors and board members react to the school’s response – or lack thereof – to antisemitism on campus.
The Huntsman family, longtime supporters of the university, have now decided to end future donations due to UPenn’s “silence” in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.
Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., son of the late billionaire Jon Huntsman Sr., informed UPenn President Liz Magill that the Huntsman Foundation will “close its checkbook” on future donations to his alma mater which has become “almost unrecognizable,” according to student newspaper The Daily Pennsylvanian.
“To the outsider, it appears that Penn has become deeply adrift in ways that make it almost unrecognizable,” Huntsman wrote to Magill reportedly after a Board of Trustees meeting on Friday.
“Moral relativism has fueled the university’s race to the bottom and sadly now has reached a point where remaining impartial is no longer an option,” he continued.
“The University’s silence in the face of reprehensible and historic Hamas evil against the people of Israel (when the only response should be outright condemnation) is a new low,” Huntsman wrote. “Silence is antisemitism, and antisemitism is hate, the very thing higher ed was built to obviate.”
And in the final blow to the prestigious university, Huntsman concluded, “Consequently, Huntsman Foundation will close its checkbook on all future giving to Penn – something that has been a source of enormous pride for now three generations of graduates.”
“My siblings join me in this rebuke,” he added.
According to CNN:
The controversy began last month when a multiday event took place on campus at UPenn called the Palestine Writes Literature Festival. UPenn has acknowledged that event included speakers with a history of making antisemitic remarks, and UPenn leaders issued a statement ahead of the festival condemning antisemitism broadly, though not the festival specifically.
Powerful donors led by private equity billionaire Marc Rowan have argued UPenn leaders did not go far enough to condemn that event or speak out against antisemitism. That simmering resentment turned to a boil in the wake of Hamas’ attack on Israel last weekend, and a growing number of donors have lashed out against the university’s handling of antisemitism.
Magill issued a statement Sunday admitting the school’s failure in handling the situation.
“While we did communicate, we should have moved faster to share our position strongly and more broadly with the Penn community,” Magill said. “The University did not, and emphatically does not, endorse these speakers or their views.”
“I want to leave no doubt about where I stand. I, and this University, are horrified by and condemn Hamas’s terrorist assault on Israel and their violent atrocities against civilians,” Magill added. “There is no justification — none — for these heinous attacks, which have consumed the region and are inciting violence in other parts of the world.”
But it appears the comments were too little, too late. During the emergency meeting of the Board on Friday, trustee Vahan Gureghian resigned.
“Just as at so many other elite academic institutions, the Penn community has been failed by an embrace of antisemitism, a failure to stand for justice and complete negligence in the defense of our students’ wellbeing,” he reportedly wrote in his letter of resignation, according to The Daily Pennsylvanian.
Huntsman Jr., who graduated from the school in 1987, served on the university’s Board of Trustees from 1996 to 2001. His father was a 1959 Wharton graduate and the namesake of Huntsman Hall.
“Huntsman Sr. funded the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business with a $10 million gift. He donated $40 million in 1998, which at the time was the largest-ever gift given to a business school, according to the campus newspaper. “As of 2014, Huntsman Sr. had donated at least $50 million to Wharton. Huntsman Sr. died in 2018.”
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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