Have you heard of the Golden Rule? “He who has the gold makes the rules!”
We have noted, many times, how deep-pockets donors have reacted very badly to the tolerance of anti-Semitism on campus. Several major corporate CEOs have said that they would not hire Harvard students who signed a stupid document blaming Israel for Hamas’ October 7th attack, and at least one CEO has said he will never again hire anyone from Harvard, MIT, or Penn following the three presidents’ debacle.
Eventually, Presidents Liz Magill of the University of Pennsylvania and Claudine Gay of Harvard resigned under pressure, and perhaps the powers at be at Harvard were feeling the pressure. From The New York Times:
Students Walk Out in Protest at Harvard Commencement
Anger at the university’s decision to bar 13 seniors from the ceremony in the wake of campus demonstrations over the war in Gaza was a flashpoint for the protest on Thursday.
By Maya Shwayder, Jenna Russell, and Anemona Hartocollis | THursday, May 23, 2024 | 8:06 PM EDT
Hundreds of students walked out of Harvard University’s commencement ceremony on Thursday morning as degrees were conferred, while hundreds chanted “Let them walk!”, a reference to 13 student protesters who were not allowed to graduate after a vote Wednesday by the Harvard Corporation, the university’s governing body.
The walkout was a jarring reminder of continuing unrest on the Cambridge campus, on a day when more than 9,000 graduates and their families were gathered in Harvard Yard for celebration and reflection.
At the start of the ceremony, the university’s interim president, Alan Garber — loudly booed by some in the crowd — acknowledged the turmoil, and the possibility that “some among us may choose to take the liberty of expressing themselves to draw attention to events unfolding in the wider world.”
“This moment of joy coincides with moments of fear and dread, grief and anger, suffering and pain,” he said. “Elsewhere, people are experiencing the worst days of their lives.” He asked the crowd to observe a minute of silence.
Student speakers at the ceremony strongly criticized the Harvard Corporation for its vote on Wednesday to bar the 13 undergraduate protesters from receiving their degrees in the wake of campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war. The move was seen by the students and their faculty supporters as a violation of an agreement made between administrators and students to clear their encampment from Harvard Yard.
There’s more at the original.
The large donors didn’t stop giving money to their schools when increasing numbers of foreign, including Muslim, students were admitted. They didn’t close their checkbooks due to the Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, which favored less qualified applicants over more qualified ones over their race or ethnicity.
But the big donors who made their fortunes through Western civilization and capitalism recognize that only Western civilization and capitalism have raised more than a tiny minority of people above the subsistence level. Yes, the fact that these ‘campus’ protests by the easily-led and the professional agitators were preaching not-very-subtle anti-Semitism certainly enraged the Jewish donors, but not all of the big donors are Jewish. This isn’t a war between civilizations, but a war between civilization and barbarism.
And so some of them are using their gold to make the rules. The colleges can be as anti-Semitic and barbarism=supporting as the ivory tower academics want, but they’re going to have to do so using someone else’s money.