Topline
Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman called for the suspension of Harvard University students and the editor of the Harvard Law Review following a pro-Palestinian campus demonstration in which a Jewish student appeared to be ushered away, as university students increasingly come under fire from business executives.
Pershing Square Capital Management CEO Bill Ackman asked why Harvard University students at a ... [+]
Key Facts
Ackman, the CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management and a Harvard graduate, re-posted a video showing a confrontation at a “stop the genocide in Gaza” protest at Harvard — videos posted on social media show a student appeared to film pro-Palestinian protesters before they demanded he leave and escorted him away from the protest, with his camera shaking as he said “don’t grab me.”
Ackman asked in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, why demonstrators who removed the student were not “immediately” suspended for allegedly violating the university’s code of conduct, suggesting the individual who was filming the protest is Jewish and was being discriminated against by the ushers demanding that he leave (Forbes has not independently verified whether the student is Jewish).
Harvard’s student handbook allows for student public demonstration “in an orderly fashion,” though it lists discrimination, including on the basis of religion, creed, national origin and ancestry, as “contrary to the principles and policies” of the university.
Ackman specifically called out Harvard Law Review editor Ibrahim Bharmal, who appears in the video, asking on X: “How does this man remain Editor” (Bharmal was identified in the video by the antisemitism watchdog group Canary Mission).
Forbes has reached out to the Harvard Law Review for comment.
Ackman made headlines last month for criticizing Harvard students who signed a statement blaming Israel for Hamas’ attack on Israel, saying Harvard should release the students' names so he and other CEOs can avoid hiring them.
Ackman also visited Harvard on Wednesday, and posted another message criticizing universities’ diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives for not protecting Jewish students.
Chief Critic
In a statement shared with Forbes, Harvard’s Palestine Solidarity Committee, which organized the “die-in” demonstration, clarified protesters were encouraged not to record the event without consent due to rising fear over “harassment that they could face by their mere presence at a peaceful rally,” in the wake of efforts to dox students critical of Israel. The committee said event marshals approached the student while he was recording in an effort to escort him away and prevent him from recording students’ faces, arguing marshals “never physically engaged with the protester.”
Tangent
Ackman is not the only billionaire to take objection to Harvard students’ criticism of Israel. Sweetgreen CEO Jonathan Neman replied to Ackman’s post last month saying he supported Ackman’s request for the students’ names “so I know never to hire” them, while David Duel, the CEO of healthcare service company Easy Health, responded, “same.” After Harvard’s Palestine Solidarity Committee released its statement last month putting sole blame on Israel for the recent conflict, conservative advocacy group Accuracy in Media stationed a so-called doxxing truck on Harvard’s campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with the names and faces of students who signed the statement. Accuracy in Media then put another truck at Columbia University’s New York City campus after students called on the university to cut ties with Israel. Another truck was stationed outside the University of Pennsylvania with a message for the university’s president, Liz Magill, to resign, amid complaints around a pro-Palestinian festival on campus in September, weeks before Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, which started the ongoing war.
What We Don’t Know
Whether Ackman will cut off donations to Harvard. Billionaire hedge fund founder Leon Cooperman, a Columbia donor, vowed to stop donating to the New York Ivy League institution following student-led protests in opposition to Israel, telling Fox Business’ “The Claman Countdown” students “have sh** for brains,” and that unless he sees changes at the university, he will indefinitely suspend donations.
Contra
At Cornell University, a student was arrested this week over posts on an online forum threatening Jewish students. Junior Patrick Dai was charged with “posting threats to kill or injure another using interstate communications,” following a post on the forum titled “gonna shoot up 104 west,” in reference to a campus dining hall that offers kosher meals. If convicted, Dai faces up to five years in prison and a fine as high as $250,000.
What To Watch For
The Biden administration launched an initiative Monday aimed at curbing a rise in antisemitism on college campuses, providing more than 200 Department of Homeland Security experts at campuses nationwide to monitor for antisemitism.
Further Reading
‘Doxxing Truck’ Takes Columbia—Here’s What To Know About The Trucks That Post Names Of Students (Forbes)
Cornell Student Arrested Over Posts Threatening Jewish Students On Campus (Forbes)
