Harvard University isn’t only among the most prestigious U.S. institutions of higher learning — it’s also the richest.
Harvard and other elite schools have drawn fierce criticism in recent weeks for their handling of student protests related to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, with some alumni threatening to withdraw large donations and to blacklist students for what they characterize as antisemitic statements.
That’s no idle threat. Ivy League colleges and universities like Stanford and MIT have amassed massive endowments, with wealthy alumni exerting considerable influence on university policy and even curricula. Harvard’s endowment, at more than $50 billion, is the biggest among U.S. universities and is larger than the GDP of more than 120 nations, including countries such as Tunisia, Bahrain and Iceland.
With the war also playing out as a fight over the competing narratives that hold sway in Gaza and Israel, moneyed donors to elite U.S. schools have sought to use their financial clout to dictate the debate on university campuses. University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill stepped down as president only days after hedge fund manager Ross Stevens, a graduate of the institution’s Wharton business school, threatened to withdraw a $100 million donation following her congressional testimony last week in a hearing about antisemitism on college campuses.
Read more at CBSnews.com
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