Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin says university protests are the result of a ‘cultural revolution’ and Harvard should ’embrace our Western values’
Ken Griffin, the billionaire founder of hedge fund Citadel, delves deeper into the national debate about American universities and the protests that have devastated many campuses over Israel’s war in Gaza.
In an interview with Financial TimesHarvard alumnus and major donor decried the social justice “narrative” at some schools.
“What you are seeing now is the end product of the cultural revolution in American education that is taking place on American campuses, specifically using the paradigm of the oppressor and the oppressed. oppression,” Griffin said, comparing the protests to “performance art” that does nothing to help Palestinians or Israelis.
Campuses nationwide have been in turmoil since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas and Israel’s response in Gaza. United States, Thousands of people were arrested at collegeswhile presidents at Ivy League schools have resigned, including at Harvard, and graduation ceremonies have been canceled.
Griffin and others on Wall Street have considered protests, especially at elite universities. In January, he called Harvard students “whiny snowflakes” and stopped donating to the school, which had reached $500 million. On Monday, he said the protests were the result of a “failed education system,” adding that the situation at Harvard appeared better than at Columbia, where Police raids last month dispersed protesters and their encampments.
When asked by Financial Times What should Harvard do next, Griffin replied, “Harvard should be front and center [that it] stands for meritocracy in America and will educate the next generation of leaders in America’s business, government, health care and philanthropic communities. Harvard will cherish our Western values that built one of the world’s greatest nations, foster them in its students, and ask them to demonstrate them. for the rest of my life.”
Harvard did not immediately respond luck Request comments.
Some businesses have already sworn that they will not hire students who participated in the protests, while others did speak out in support of them.
Recently, recruitment experts spoke with Luck were divided on what impact, if any, the protests would have on students’ employability.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden earlier this month protect the rights of students to protest peacefully but rejected their demands to change his approach towards Gaza and also said that “order must prevail” in schools.
ONE upcoming White House report on the use of US-supplied weapons in Gaza is expected to criticize Israel but does not conclude that Israel has violated the terms of their use.
