Billionaire Bill Ackman is continuing his campaign to oust Harvard President Claudine Gay over her handling of anti-Semitism on campus, arguing it has cost her significant fundraising dollars.
The 53-year-old academic survived a scheduled Harvard board meeting on Sunday calling for her removal, but her future at the Ivy League institution remains uncertain after her disastrous congressional hearing.
In the letter Ackman sent to his alma mater and sent to
“President Gay’s failures have resulted in billions of dollars in donations to the university being canceled, suspended and withdrawn,” Ackman wrote.
“I am personally aware that more than a billion dollars in donations have been cut from a small group of Harvard’s most generous Jewish and non-Jewish alumni,” he added.
Billionaire Bill Ackman (pictured left) continues his campaign to oust Harvard President Claudine Gay (pictured right) over her handling of anti-Semitism on campus, arguing it has cost her significant fundraising dollars
“I have been copied and blind copied in numerous letters and emails to the university by alumni who have written scathing letters to Gay and/or the board withdrawing donations.”
Ackman accused Gay of “doing more damage to Harvard’s reputation than anyone else in the university’s history.”
The billionaire called on the university's board to review Gay's history, including allegations of plagiarism and discrimination against those who do not fit the concept of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
Ackman said: “As dean, Gay showed no respect for basic American legal principles when she fired Professor Ronald Sullivan of Harvard Law School as residential dean for taking over the legal defense of Harvey Weinstein.” President Gay should hope that one day she will “If she needs advice, she will be able to get quality representation for herself.”
Ackman also mentioned the case of former Winthrop House faculty dean Ronald Sullivan, who in 2019 accused Gay of firing him from his role because of his work on Harvey Weinstein's defense team.
The law professor, who was the first Black dean of a Harvard school, accused Gay and the college's dean Rakesh Khurana of lying about their reasons for firing him, claiming it was because he fostered a toxic work environment.
“The actions were cowardly and cowardly and Dean Gay and Dean Khurana have simply consistently and repeatedly lied to the student body and they know better,” he said, according to The Harvard Crimson.
“Their problem was that I portrayed an unpopular person…They said it to my face and other senior members said it to my face, and then they turned around and lied to the student body.”
The 53-year-old academic survived a scheduled Harvard board meeting on Sunday calling for her removal, but her future at the Ivy League institution remains uncertain after her disastrous congressional hearing
Harvard has denied that the decision was due to Sullivan's collaboration with Weinstein, which led to protests on campus. Sullivan remains a law professor at Harvard.
In his letter to the Harvard board, Ackman also noted that Harvard had plummeted in the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) College Free Speech Rankings since Gay took office. Although the school has never been at the top of the list, it achieved its worst ranking ever, coming in at the very bottom.
FIRE said, “Harvard completed its downward spiral in dramatic fashion, finishing in last place with its worst score ever: 0.00 out of a possible 100.00.” This earns it the infamous distinction of being the only school to This year has a “catastrophic” linguistic climate.”
Gay, a professor of government and African and African American studies, was sworn in as Harvard's first black president in July. She became interested in DEI policies and founded the Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging.
Ackman claimed, “ODIBB’s actions have resulted in favoritism and favoritism toward certain racial, gender, and LGBTQ+ groups at the expense of other groups, and have made some members of the Harvard community feel included at the expense of others who are excluded .”
The billionaire was accused of racism when he claimed Gay was only hired because she fit the DEO profile.
In his most recent open letter, he said: “I was recently accused of being a racist by several bloggers and other commentators when I announced that the board did not consider a candidate for the office in the search process that led to the hiring of President Gay would pull.” President who did not meet the DEI criteria.
I just found out about it @realchrisrufo Analysis of #ClaudineGay's work and the accusations of plagiarism. I have not read the articles or books in question. However, two things come to mind: imitation is considered the highest form of flattery and secondly, Dr. Gay's Committee… pic.twitter.com/0388xnHqSi
– Dr. Carol M. Swain (@carolmswain) December 11, 2023
A billboard at Harvard University called for the removal of President Claudine Gay on Sunday
“I have now confirmed from multiple sources that the search committee that led to the appointment of President Gay excluded candidates who were not DEI eligible from the process.”
has not independently verified Ackman's claim.
Ackman also shared bloggers Christopher Rufo and Christopher Brunet's plagiarism allegations against Gay, who claim the Harvard leader saved identical wording for her 1997 dissertation.
The bloggers accuse Gay of using near-literal language from authors Lawrence Bobo and Franklin Gilliam and scholar Carol Swain.
Swain responded to the claims on Twitter, writing: “I just learned about the analysis of #ClaudineGay's work and the plagiarism allegations.” I have not read the articles or books in question. However, two things come to mind: Imitation is said to be the highest form of flattery and secondly, Dr. Gay's committee, assessors and colleagues must uncover these alleged transgressions.'
The author added: “I would like to know if [Gay] quoted me in their published work on districting and representation. This would have had a far greater impact on my career in the long term. “In science, we are rewarded based on citations.”
Gay apologized for her behavior at last week's hearing, but the backlash continued.
On Sunday, two promotional vans reproducing her remarks to Congress were sent to campus hours in Massachusetts.
Gay, UPenn's Liz Magill and MIT's Sally Kornbluth were called before the House Education and Workforce Committee on Tuesday by lawmakers concerned about reports of a rise in anti-Semitism at leading universities.
They were heavily questioned by the committee's chair, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY), but failed to argue that calls for genocide against Jews on campus would definitely constitute harassment.
“This is just the beginning of combating the pervasive rot of anti-Semitism that has destroyed America's most 'prestigious' higher education institutions,” Stefanik wrote Saturday evening.
Added, “Harvard and MIT, do the right thing.” The world is watching.'
Just minutes after Magill's statement announcing her resignation, Upenn Board of Trustees Chairman Scott Bok also resigned.
UPenn President Liz Magill resigned from her position on Saturday
Also MIT President Dr. Sally Kornbluth has been criticized for her school's response to protests. She also failed to outwardly condemn calls for genocide against the Jews
Bok Vice Chair Julie Beren Platt has been named interim chair of the board.
In a statement released Saturday evening, Magill wrote, “It has been an honor to serve as president of this remarkable institution.”
“It has been an honor to work with our faculty, students, staff, alumni and community members to advance Penn’s important missions.”
In his own resignation statement, Bok defended Magill as a “good person” who was “not the least bit anti-Semitic” but had made a “misstep” after “months of relentless external attacks.”
Gay apologized for her comments on Thursday as the backlash grew more intense, telling the college newspaper The Crimson that she was “engaged in what had developed at that point: a prolonged, combative exchange over policy and Procedure.”
“In that moment, I should have had the presence of mind necessary to return to my guiding truth, which is that calls for violence against our Jewish community – threats against our Jewish students – have no place at Harvard and will never go unchallenged,” she added .