Deep-pocketed donors to Ivy League schools are no longer inclined to walk away quietly after hanging their names on buildings — and university presidents can thank the Hamas attacks on Israel.
It’s increasingly common for single donors to give, in some cases, hundreds of millions of dollars — and the tumult that has erupted on campuses since the terrorist attacks has inspired a new class of mega-donors to speak up.
Citadel founder Ken Griffin, who gave $300 million to Harvard last year alone, and Apollo CEO Marc Rowan, who has given $50 million to the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton business school, both made headlines this month for challenging the presidents of their respective alma maters over a wishy-washy response to the terrorist attacks.
According to sources, Rowan last week joined a Zoom call with hundreds of UPenn alumni to discuss strategy.
Apollo’s co-head of private equity Matt Nord is also halting his donations to UPenn and asking the school president to resign, according to a letter obtained by On The Money.
Nord, who sources said has given millions to UPenn, wrote that the school is having “an existential crisis” and that “time is of the essence.”
“Trustees will no longer be bashful — they’re going to step up a lot more,” said Vahan Gureghian, a former UPenn trustee who resigned last month over the school’s hosting of a pro-Palestinian literary festival that was widely criticized as antisemitic.
“People were afraid to say anything but that is not going to be the case going forward,” Gureghian told On The Money.
Last week, cosmetics tycoon Ronald Lauder revealed he made a personal – and unsuccessful – trip to Philadelphia to try to persuade UPenn’s president Liz Magill to cancel the controversial Palestinian literary confab.
He’s halting donations over what he sees as out-of-control antisemitism at UPenn.
“Free speech is important but hate speech is not — that must change,” Lauder told On The Money.
Sources say it’s just the beginning. In a 2017 essay, Yale School of Management Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld outlined how a new class of university donors marked a shift from earlier philanthropists who gave money upon their death — often to cleanse a bad reputation — or disbursed small donations over many years.
“Today’s philanthropic business leaders are not driven to counterbalance allegations of misconduct; rather, they are proud of their careers and eager to shape the impact of their gifts while they are younger,” Sonnenfeld said. “They are donating earlier to share their wisdom, relationships, and energy in real time so they can match the profound finances of each gift.”
Gureghian predicts that not only will mega-donors speak out, they’ll look to take a more active role in the school’s management.
As such, university administrators would be wise to look up from their books more often, he said.
“You have to be a great CEO as well as understand academics,” Gureghian said.
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