Penn loses $100 million donation as ‘Squad’ Rep. says antisemitism being weaponized
Brady Knox
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The University of Pennsylvania lost a $100 million donation over controversial Congressional testimony from the school’s president.
Ross Stevens, former CEO of Stone Ridge Asset Management, told the school of his move in a letter from his lawyers, obtained by Axios. In it, they cited President Liz Magill’s testimony as the impetus for the rescinding of the gift, and they mentioned broader problems with the college’s handling of antisemitism.
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“Its permissive approach to hate speech calling for violence against Jews and laissez faire attitude toward harassment and discrimination against Jewish students would violate any policies of rules that prohibit harassment and discrimination based on religion, including those of Stone Ridge,” Stevens’s lawyers wrote in the letter. “President Magill’s December 6, 2023 post on X admitted as much, when she belatedly acknowledged—only after her Congressional testimony went viral and demands for her termination amplified—that calls for genocide of the Jewish people constitute harassment and discrimination.
“In light of the foregoing, Stone Ridge has reason to believe that the University’s actions (or lack thereof) constitute ‘Limited Partner Cause’ under Section 10.12 of the LP Agreement, which gives Stone Ridge the ability, in its sole discretion, to retire the University’s Units,” the letter continued.
The letter concluded by noting that they welcomed an opportunity to meet with the school and give it a “chance to remedy” the error.
Also on Thursday, UPenn’s board of trustees held an emergency meeting, a university spokesperson told CNN, following urging from Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA). The House announced an investigation into the school as well.
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Meanwhile, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) denounced what she called the weaponization of antisemitism, specifically on college campuses.
“From college students to those in the workplace, I’m getting the calls of people being pushed to silence — being bullied, some people weaponizing antisemitism in a way to silence voices, all of that needs to stop,” Tlaib said. “Americans have a right to speak up. Americans have a right to the institutions they work at or the people that represent them to say, ‘Look, this is my opinion, I believe you should support X, Y, and Z.’ Again, we have to be able to make sure that as we look at all these forms of hate, that it is not being weaponized in a way to silence voices like myself and… many of the voices that are here.”