Posted on 01/03/2024 8:57:01 AM PST by SunkenCiv
Billionaire Harvard donor Bill Ackman is calling for the resignation and replacement of the school's board, which he says is just as much to blame for its problems as ousted president Claudine Gay.
Gay resigned yesterday, finally bowing to calls to stand down a month after her calamitous congressional testimony about campus antisemitism and amid growing accusations of academic plagiarism throughout her scholar career...
Unsatisfied with Gay's resignation, he says the school's leadership is so deeply flawed that it requires a total overhaul.
'The Corporation Board should not remain in their seats protected by the unusual governance structure which enabled them to obtain their seats,' he said, pointing to the fact its members publicly denied the plagiarism claims before investigating them, and rallied around Gay to support her rather than scrutinize her work.
His biggest complaint about the board and the school is its obsession with DEI, which he says has propagated 'acceptable racism' towards white people.
'Racism against white people has become considered acceptable by many not to be racism, or alternatively, it is deemed acceptable racism.
'While this is, of course, absurd, it has become the prevailing view in many universities around the country.
'You can say things about white people today in universities, in business or otherwise, that if you switched the word "white" to "black," the consequences to you would be costly and severe,' Ackman tweeted.
Ackman was deemed 'racist' by the NAACP when he claimed Harvard only considered candidates who met DEI requirements in selecting a new president in 2022.
For now, Harvard has appointed Alan Garber, the school's provost, as interim president.
He sat behind Gay during her congressional testimony, nodding in agreement as she gave her remarks.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Ackman is an interesting case. He now is on fire about getting rid of DEI. But he admits that, before the anti-Jewish riots on campuses, he naively thought DEI was a good thing.
...
Ackman is a zero, but in this case he is right.
He’s a Liberal who has been MUGGED.....but he’ll STILL vote for the DEMOCRAT EVERY TIME!
Well put.
Folks here who don’t know a single Jew will say “no Jew is waking up” as someone who knows plenty of Jews, there is without a doubt an awakening occurring regarding being in bed with leftists, 2A convos and DEI.
Well said.
I hope you are correct. Just how widespread remains to be seen.
I do not see how Harvard and most other such propaganda mills will EVER recover their reputations. Once you have been outed as a worthless and corrupt organization, the tarnish cannot be polished away.
It is not JUST Harvard. Americans can now see clearly most major universities are disgusting in their anti-American, anti-white, anti-male and anti-Jew nature. They no longer elevate students and professors based upon MERIT or RIGOROUS STUDY.
Harvard stands for nothing but racial bias and the world now knows it.
They are rotten to the core.
A “degree” from Harvard is now justifiably seen as hopelessly overpriced and worthless.
That this fraud of a president, Claudine Gay, steps down only to paid nearly a million dollars per year to continue as a Harvard “professor” is an outrage.
The stench of this is NOT GOING AWAY.
Such places are now seen as a miserable waste of time and money for truly gifted scholars.
.....anytime someone like Ackman (self made billionaire) crosses the Rubicon and comes back on our side of the left vs right political river, we should welcome him/her because we (The Right) need all the help we can get to save this country from itself.
When Ackman goes back across the Rubicon we can take shots at him then, but for now, let’s welcome his spot on help. FTR, I’ve been yelling “fire the board” since the very beginning of this pathetic mess a month ago.
Sorry but Ackman at his core is not a good guy. His crusade to get rid of these dopey women and reform Harvard has nothing to do with restoring American greatness but everything to do with his self defined globalist goals and values.
That’s exactly right. The people who approved hiring her were either seriously negligent or ignored her crimes.
Every ad agency in the country, to boot.
They were complicit conspirators.
Obama Commerce Secy, Penny Pritzker heads Harvard Corporation, under scrutiny, post-Gay debacle
‘The Harvard Corporation’ stays largely out of public view — except when it speaks
wbur.org. December 12, 2023, Suevon Lee
The entity known as The Harvard Corporation has been all over the headlines in recent days as speculation swirled around the job security of Harvard President Claudine Gay, following her recent congressional testimony on antisemitism.
Its 11 voting board members issued a statement early Tuesday standing behind Gay. That decision came after the board extended a previously scheduled weekend meeting into Monday to take a stance on the recent controversy. But the group has remained largely out of public view. There was little information about where they were meeting, when they were meeting or what would come from those discussions.
A spokesman for Harvard wouldn’t even confirm to WBUR whether the board was meeting Monday.
Much is laid out about the Corporation in this 2017 Harvard Crimson explainer, but here’s a bit more about what we know about the oversight board:
It’s the smaller of Harvard’s two governing bodies but wields more power
Officially, the Harvard Corporation’s name is “The President and Fellows of Harvard College.” It’s one of two governing boards at Harvard, in addition to the Board of Overseers, but serves as the university’s highest governing body.
Chartered in 1650, the Corporation refers to itself as “the oldest corporation in the Western Hemisphere.” It’s responsible for overseeing Harvard’s “academic, financial, and physical resources and overall well-being,” per its own description.
It’s in charge of things like selecting a university president and individual department deans and fund-raising. And as the Crimson noted, it has “the final say” on important issues facing the university.
In recent years, it approved dropping the controversial shield of Harvard Law School due to its associations with an 18th-century slave owner. But as former Corporation senior fellow William Lee told the Harvard Gazette in June 2022, “the Corporation has no greater responsibility than selecting the president of the University and then doing everything [it] can to help the president become successful.”
Its members include influential, wealthy figures in business, politics and academia
At its helm is Penny Pritzker, a billionaire businesswoman and former U.S. Secretary of Commerce in the Obama administration. She led the Harvard presidential search committee that selected Gay as president.
Other long-serving members include Paul J. Finnegan, co-head of a Chicago investment firm and past president of the Harvard Alumni Association and Ted V. Wells Jr., partner and co-chair of the white-shoe law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. Past members include David Rubenstein, co-founder of private equity firm The Carlyle Group.
Other newer members include Tracy Palandijan, a Boston nonprofit leader and Carolyn “Biddy” Martin, former president of Amherst College and a German studies scholar. Members can serve up to 12 years broken into two six-year terms.
In 2010, the size of the Corporation doubled following governance changes
Under leadership of then-Harvard President Drew G. Faust, membership on the board increased from 7 members to 13 total (the president also serves as a member) and built in term limits, according to Harvard Magazine. This expansion was done to add perspectives and expertise amid concerns the board was not operating with enough transparency.
When replacements are needed, the board is “self-selecting” according to the Crimson. Corporation members decide who will replace departing or termed-out colleagues. A majority vote of approval is required from the Board of Overseers.
Members have been mum, even as calls were ratcheting up to remove Gay from her post
In an interview with the Crimson last Thursday in which she apologized for remarks at the hearing that inflamed the latest controversy, Gay reportedly said she had “the support of (Penny) Pritzker.” Pritzker, however, had not independently issued any statement in support, the paper noted.
He may have gotten sufficiently mugged - but we’ll see.
“His biggest complaint about the board and the school is its obsession with DEI, which he says has propagated ‘acceptable racism’ towards white people.
‘Racism against white people has become considered acceptable by many not to be racism, or alternatively, it is deemed acceptable racism.
‘While this is, of course, absurd, it has become the prevailing view in many universities around the country.
‘You can say things about white people today in universities, in business or otherwise, that if you switched the word “white” to “black,” the consequences to you would be costly and severe,’ Ackman tweeted.”
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