Wall Street mogul Ken Griffin vowed last fall that he would never consider recruiting students who expressed support for Hamas, but he denounced pro-Palestinian protests as “performative art” and called his alma mater Harvard University a “Western-style He appealed to people to accept “values.”
The outspoken founder and CEO of giant hedge fund Citadel has criticized the “culture” that has spread on college campuses in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack that claimed the lives of about 1,200 Israelis. He lamented the revolution.
He is from Florida and has a net worth. Valued at $38.1 billion by Bloomberg Billionaires Indexsaid the United States had “lost sight of education as a means of pursuing truth and acquiring knowledge.”
“The discourse on some college campuses has escalated to the point that the system is unjust and unjust, and that America is plagued by systemic racism and systemic injustice.” Mr Griffin told the Financial Times: In an interview over the weekend.
Griffin said the protests are “the end product of this cultural revolution in American education that is unfolding on American campuses” and that students are acting according to “an oppressor-oppressed paradigm.” said.
“Protests on college campuses are almost like performing arts, and we’re not actually supporting Palestinians or Israelis with these unrealistic protests,” said Griffin, 55. said.
Griffin encouraged students on U.S. campuses to focus on less divisive strategies, such as organizing food drives to help Palestinians.
Earlier this year, Mr. Griffin denounced students at Harvard and other elite universities as “whining snowflakes.”
Harvard alumni, who have donated more than $500 million to their alma mater, have threatened to withhold future support from the school unless it properly cracks down on anti-Semitism.
Bill Ackman, another billionaire hedge fund manager who graduated from Harvard University, led a successful campaign to force Claudine Gay to resign as university president.
Griffin and Ackman have been fiercely critical of DEI, which stands for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and blame this policy for what they perceive to be increased tolerance of anti-Semitism on campus. He blames it.
Griffin commented on recent developments on campuses such as Columbia University, where police were called out to remove pro-Palestinian students from occupied buildings.
“Freedom of speech does not give you the right to storm or vandalize buildings,” Griffin said. “That’s not free speech. That’s just anarchy.”
Griffin compared the pro-Palestinian protests to the Black Lives Matter movement, where supporters posted black squares on their Instagram accounts to show solidarity.
“You didn’t help one child that day learn better how to read, write and do arithmetic,” he said.
“Do you want me to compliment you for posting a black screen on your Instagram account? Give me a break. It’s embarrassing.”
Griffin said he has spoken with several wealthy donors to Harvard who have “expressed little interest in micromanaging the university.”
Meanwhile, the donors expressed “a clear interest in making Harvard a vanguard of truth-seeking and meritocracy.”
“Many wealthy donors have valuable insight into the transformation and improvement strategies that are clearly needed at this time,” Griffin said.
The Post has reached out to Citadel and Harvard University for comment.
