(LibertySociety.com) – Following the deadliest attack in Israel’s history, many colleges have come under scrutiny for not explicitly condemning the attack or the pro-Hamas events taking place at their campuses. One long-time donor and alumni has decided to “close its checkbook” to the University of Pennsylvania for remaining silent about the attack. John Huntsman Jr., wrote a letter to the Board of Trustees, blasting the university for not taking a stance against the evil committed against the Jewish people of Israel. He said that being silent was the equivalent of antisemitism, which is a form of hate, which is “the very thing higher ed was built to obviate.”
Huntsman is a former governor of Utah and a former U.S. ambassador to China and Russia. Following Huntsman’s decision, the president of the university, Liz Magill, transmitted a message to the university’s community, calling the Israel attack an act of terrorism for the first time. Magill also addressed the university’s response to a September Palestinian literature festival that was held on campus, which drew scrutiny at the time. She claimed that the university should have responded to the event in a stronger manner as well as made sure that the university’s position was well known.
One billionaire CEO, Mark Rowan, is calling for donors to send just one dollar to the university until Magill and the chair of the Board of Trustees, Scott Bok, resign. Rowan is the chair of Wharton’s School Board of Advisers. He believes that the two hold antisemitic beliefs and the right way to deal with it would be to withhold funding to force their resignations. Harvard University is also facing criticism for a coalition of student groups authoring a letter that blamed Israel for the deadly attack, claiming that it is an apartheid nation that has been holding Palestinians as prisoners for decades. CEOs of multiple corporations called for the group members’ names to be released to the public.
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