- by cnn
- 15 Aug 2024
A nonprofit founded by former Victoria's Secret billionaire Leslie Wexner and his wife Abigail is breaking off ties with Harvard University, alleging the school has been "tiptoeing" over Hamas' terror attacks against Israel.
The Wexner Foundation's decision to end its relationship and financial support for Harvard is the latest fallout amid criticism from donors who were alarmed by the university's initial response to the attacks and to an anti-Israel statement issued by student groups.
"We are stunned and sickened by the dismal failure of Harvard's leadership to take a clear and unequivocal stand against the barbaric murders of innocent Israeli civilians," the Wexner Foundation's leaders wrote in a Monday letter to the Harvard board of overseers.
The Wexners, whose fortune is estimated to be $6 billion, according to Forbes, specifically cite the statement released by a coalition of student groups that blamed solely Israel for the terror attacks by Hamas.
"Harvard's leaders were indeed tiptoeing, equivocating, and we, like former Harvard President Larry Summers cannot 'fathom the administration's failure to disassociate the university and condemn the statement' swiftly issued by 34 student groups holding Israel entirely responsible for the violent terror attack on its own citizens," the Wexner Foundation letter reads. "That should not have been that hard."
Summers, a former economic official in the Obama and Clinton administrations, drew attention last week to the "morally unconscionable" student statement and slammed Harvard leaders for their response.
Citing the "absence of this clear moral standard," the Wexner Foundation said it has determined the Harvard Kennedy School is no longer a "compatible" partner for its organization.
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