Donations to Harvard University drop after criticism over Israel protests

The Financial Times has just reported that donations to the prestigious Harvard University fell 14% in the fiscal year ending June 30 as large donors cut ties and prominent alumni criticised its administration over a botched response to Israel protests.

Overall gifts dropped to $896 million from $1.05 billion a year ago. The university’s endoment took the brunt of the hit. Those gifts fell by one-third, but donations to the operating fund – needed to cover day-to-day expenses – rose 9% year-on-year to $528 million.

Student protests over the response by Israel to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, strike roiled the campus for much of the past school year. The alumni criticised the institution for its handling of the serious demonstrations.

Claudine Gay resigns as Harvard president

In the beginning of 2024, Claudine Gay resigned after just six months as president of Harvard University over allegations of plagiarism and a backlash over an apparently inadequate response to anti-Semitism on the university campus.

Gay took her role as the university’s first Black president and only the second female president in the institution’s 388-year history. She is the daughter of Haitian immigrants to the US and the cousin of author and academic Roxane Gay.

Gay’s resignation came after pressure for her to resign after a congressional hearing about anti-Semitism on US university campuses on December 4. During the hearing, she had to face accusations of not enforcing student code-of-conduct measures to stop the protests.