{"id":1894,"date":"2023-10-18T17:28:15","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T17:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/connectwithfund.com\/business\/deeply-ashamed-another-major-upenn-backer-halts-donations-and-calls-on-other-jews-to-do-the-same\/"},"modified":"2023-10-18T17:28:16","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T17:28:16","slug":"deeply-ashamed-another-major-upenn-backer-halts-donations-and-calls-on-other-jews-to-do-the-same","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/connectwithfund.com\/?p=1894","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Deeply ashamed.\u2019 Another major UPenn backer halts donations and calls on other Jews to do the same"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\n Venture capitalist David Magerman is the latest major donor to the University of Pennsylvania cutting off financial support to the Ivy League school, and he\u2019s calling for all \u201cself-respecting\u201d Jews to do the same.\n <\/p>\n

\n Hedge fund billionaire Cliff Asness, another major backer of UPenn, is similarly halting donations. A growing list of high-profile donors have pulled their funding from the prestigious university, arguing UPenn leaders did not go far enough to condemn a multiday Palestine Writes Literature Festival that took place last month on campus. UPenn leaders 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.\n <\/p>\n

\n That simmering resentment turned to a boil in the wake of Hamas\u2019 attack on Israel, and a growing number of donors have lashed out against the university\u2019s handling of antisemitism.\n <\/p>\n

\n Magerman, a UPenn graduate known for building trading algorithms at hedge fund giant Renaissance Technologies, posted a letter on Tuesday sent to UPenn leaders in which he took issue with UPenn President Liz Magill\u2019s decision to hold the festival and her initial response to the terror attacks on Israel.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI am deeply ashamed of my association with the University of Pennsylvania. I refuse to donate another dollar to Penn,\u201d Magmeran wrote in the letter to Magill and Scott Bok, chair of the school\u2019s board of trustees.\n <\/p>\n

\n Magerman, who co-founded a seed-stage venture capital fund that invests in artificial intelligence and machine learning, described himself as a \u201cmajor donor\u201d to UPenn as well as a Torah-observant Jew.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cJews have played an extraordinary role in the history and legacy of the University of Pennsylvania. And Jews have benefitted from their affiliation with Penn,\u201d Magerman wrote. \u201cBut regardless of the economic and social value of a Penn or Wharton degree, there is no place for self-respecting Jewish people at an institution that supports evil.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n In an email sent to Magill on Monday and confirmed by CNN, Asness said he won\u2019t consider making another donation at UPenn until there is \u201cmeaningful change\u201d at the school. The founder of AQR Capital Management said he just finished a five-year pledge to the university.\n <\/p>\n

\n Asness cited the Palestine Writes festival, the university\u2019s initial response to the Hamas terror attacks and a broader \u201cdrift away from true freedom of thought, expression and speech\u201d at UPenn and other schools.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI do not like making something like this about money \u2013 but it appears to be one of the only paths that has any hope of mattering, and it has become clear that it is the only voice some of us have,\u201d Asness wrote.\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n Asness and Magerman join private-equity billionaire Marc Rowan, former US Ambassador Jon Huntsman and other high-profile UPenn donors vowing to close their checkbooks in protest. Billionaire Ronald Lauder, another powerful financial backer of school, is threatening to do the same if more isn\u2019t done to fight antisemitism.\n <\/p>\n

\n Organizers of the Palestine Writes festival denied that it embraced antisemitism, according to UPenn student newspaper The Daily Pennsylvanian.\n <\/p>\n

\n Susan Abulhawa, executive director of the Palestine Writes Literature Festival, told CNN the festival was meant to celebrate Palestinian culture and literature and talk about \u201cour predicament\u201d and \u201cresistance.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Magerman said he is not calling for Magill to resign because it would be \u201cwholly inadequate,\u201d arguing UPenn\u2019s moral foundation needs to be completely rebuilt \u201cfrom the ground up.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cYou have shown me who you are. My only remaining hope is that all self-respecting Jews, and all moral citizens of the world, dissociate themselves from Penn,\u201d Magerman wrote.\n <\/p>\n

\n In response, UPenn referred CNN to a statement Magill issued on Tuesday stressing the school has a \u201cmoral responsibility to combat antisemitism and to educate our community to recognize and reject hate in all its forms.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cAlumni are important members of the Penn community,\u201d Magill said. \u201cI hear their anger, pain, and frustration and am taking action to make clear that I stand, and Penn stands, emphatically against the terrorist attacks by Hamas in Israel and against antisemitism.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n UPenn also shared a letter published last month in The Daily Pennsylvanian that was penned by dozens of members of the school\u2019s Jewish community expressing \u201centhusiasm\u201d for the Palestine Writes Literature Festival.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe look forward to celebrating this extraordinary gathering of our Palestinian classmates, students, colleagues, and neighbors,\u201d that September 22nd letter said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Beyond voicing support for the Palestine literary festival, the members of the Jewish community strongly criticized Magill\u2019s September 12 statement condemning antisemitism as for causing \u201cfears for students\u2019 safety\u201d and potentially stifling free expression.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cBy using this celebration of Palestinian literary traditions as an occasion to condemn antisemitism,\u201d they wrote, \u201cyour statement further marginalizes Palestinian experiences on campus, while supporting attempts to conflate Palestinian liberation with antisemitism.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The back-and-forth over an event that took place last month, well before the Hamas terror attacks on Israel, underscores the pressure on university leaders to balance freedom of speech issues with fighting hate speech in general and antisemitism in particular.\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Venture capitalist David Magerman is the latest major donor to the University of Pennsylvania cutting off financial support to the Ivy League school, and he\u2019s calling for all \u201cself-respecting\u201d Jews to do the same. Hedge fund billionaire Cliff Asness, another major backer of UPenn, is similarly halting donations. A growing list of high-profile donors have pulled their funding from the prestigious university, arguing UPenn leaders did not go far enough to condemn a multiday Palestine Writes Literature Festival that took place last month on campus. UPenn leaders acknowledged that event included speakers with a history of making antisemitic remarks, and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1895,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Deeply ashamed.\u2019 Another major UPenn backer halts donations and calls on other Jews to do the same | ConnectWithFund<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Venture capitalist David Magerman is the latest major donor to the University of Pennsylvania cutting off financial support to the Ivy League school, and\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/connectwithfund.com\/?p=1894\" \/>\n<meta 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