UPenn Loses Major Donor, Board Member over Antisemitism

The University of Pennsylvania lost both a major donor and a board member over allegations of antisemitism amid the Israel-Hamas war.

Jon Huntsman, former U.S. ambassador and a major donor to the university, said he would no longer be funding the school, citing its silence in the face of the horrific terrorist attack that claimed an estimated 1,200 Israeli lives, most of whom were civilians.

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“The University’s silence in the face of reprehensible and historic Hamas evil against the people of Israel (when the only response should be outright condemnation) is a new low. Silence is antisemitism, and antisemitism is hate, the very thing higher ed was built to obviate,” Huntsman said in a letter obtained by the Daily Pennsylvanian.

“Consequently, Huntsman Foundation will close its checkbook on all future giving to Penn — something that has been a source of enormous pride for now three generations of graduates. My siblings join me in this rebuke,” he added.

After a three-hour emergency meeting, Vahan Gureghian resigned from UPenn’s board of trustees for the same reason.

“Just as at so many other elite academic institutions, the Penn community has been failed by an embrace of antisemitism, a failure to stand for justice and complete negligence in the defense of our students’ wellbeing,” Gureghian said in his resignation letter.

UPenn President Liz Magill said that the university does not support antisemitism.