Billionaire megadonor suspends donations to Harvard
CNN
By Matt Egan, CNN
New York (CNN) — Billionaire Len Blavatnik is joining the list of frustrated Harvard donors closing their checkbooks to the university.
Blavatnik’s family foundation has suspended donations to Harvard in the wake of President Claudine Gay’s disastrous testimony before Congress, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to CNN.
Blavatnik, who is Jewish and has amassed a fortune that Forbes estimates is worth $32 billion, is holding back donations to Harvard until the university addresses antisemitism on campus, the source said.
The Harvard Business School graduate has a history of generous giving to the Ivy League school as well as to supporting Jewish causes. Blavatnik’s family foundation has donated at least $270 million to Harvard, the source said.
Born in Ukraine and raised in Russia, Blavatnik made his early fortune after the Soviet Union collapsed, a time when state-owned aluminum, oil and other companies underwent privatization. He’s been a US citizen for four decades and expanded his investments and philanthropy widely over time.
Blavatnik hasn’t made specific demands to Harvard, but he wants the university to ensure Jewish students are protected the same way other students are, the source said.
While hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman and others have all but severed ties with Harvard, Blavatnik is leaving open the door to resume donations.
“He wants Harvard to do better. He’s not trying to step away or abandon the place,” the source said.
News of Blavatnik’s decision to pause giving to Harvard was first reported by Bloomberg. Harvard did not comment on the news. Blavatnik’s foundation declined to comment.
Waves of backlash
Harvard and other universities have faced a backlash from some donors following their response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. Later that month, more than 1,600 Harvard alumni vowed to withhold donations until stronger action was taken to fight antisemitism on campus.
That backlash grew in intensity after Gay and the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania and MIT struggled to answer questions from lawmakers at a hearing earlier this month about whether calls for the genocide of Jews violates university rules. Facing calls for her firing, Gay apologized for her testimony.
Blavatnik’s decision deals a significant blow to Harvard. In 2018, he promised to give Harvard Medical School a record-setting $200 million.
Blavatnik, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2017, has a history of giving money to universities as well as politicians. He reportedly donated money to both Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign as the Trump inaugural committee.
The news comes as Harvard continues to face pressure over its handling of antisemitism and as Gay has come under fire for plagiarism. Harvard said on Thursday that Gay will issue corrections to her 1997 PhD dissertation to address “inadequate citation.”
Last week, Harvard disclosed figures that showed early applications fell by 17% to four-year lows.
Gay holds a Zoom with faculty
Just before announcing plans to issue corrections to her dissertation, Gay held a virtual town hall with hundreds of faculty members on Tuesday, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to CNN.
The plagiarism controversy that has swirled around Gay did not come up during that Zoom town hall with members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the source said.
About a dozen Harvard faculty members spoke during the event and all of them were supportive, according to the source.
By late Wednesday, Harvard announced in a statement to The Harvard Crimson that Gay plans to make additional corrections to her writings due to “inadequate citation,” intensifying the debate over plagiarism and Harvard’s handling of the matter.
A Harvard spokesperson declined to comment. News of Gay’s Zoom town hall with faculty was previously reported by The New York Times.
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