Billionaire Kenneth Griffin, who has donated over half a billion dollars to Harvard University, has stopped his funding to the institution due to its handling of antisemitism issues on campus and a broader leadership crisis. Griffin informed attendees at the Managed Funds Association conference in Miami on Tuesday that he has ceased his donations for the time being.
Griffin made headlines in April 2023 when he donated $300 million to Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, raising his total financial contributions to over half a billion dollars. Months later, students and alumni criticized Claudine Gay, who was appointed as Harvard's first Black president, for her response to protests related to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, as well as her testimony before Congress on the crisis. Allegations of plagiarism also emerged, leading to Gay's resignation earlier this month.
Harvard is the richest university in the United States, with an endowment valued at $50.7 billion. Griffin's position now suggests that other major donors may slow or halt their contributions at a time when student tuition fees have reached approximately $80,000 annually, a cost that critics argue exceeds the capacity of those wishing to enroll in the university.
