Ken Griffin, the billionaire founder of hedge fund Citadel, delves into the national debate over American colleges and the protests that have gripped many college campuses over Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip.
In an interview with the publication Financial TimesThe Harvard alumna and mega-donor condemned the social justice “narrative” at some schools.
“What you’re seeing now is the end product of this cultural revolution in American education happening on American campuses, particularly using the oppressor-oppressed paradigm,” Griffin said, comparing the protests to “performative art” that doesn’t help Palestinians or the Israelis.
College campuses across the country were in turmoil following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 and the Israeli response in the Gaza Strip. In the US, thousands of people were arrested at colleges, presidents of Ivy League schools resigned, including at Harvard, and graduation ceremonies were cancelled.
Griffin and others on Wall Street are weighing in on the protests, especially at elite colleges. In January, he called Harvard students “whiny snowflakes” and stopped donations to the school that topped $500 million. He said Monday that the protests were the result of a “failed education system,” adding that the situation at Harvard looked better than in Colombia, where police raids last month destroyed protesters and their encampment.
When asked Financial Times what Harvard should do next, Griffin responded: “Harvard should put [that it] advocates for meritocracy in America and will train the next generation of leaders in America’s business, government, healthcare and philanthropic communities. “Harvard will embrace our Western values that have created one of the greatest nations in the world, promote the development of those values among its students, and ask them to demonstrate those values throughout the rest of their lives.”
Harvard did not immediately respond to Fortune request for comment.
Fellow hedge fund manager Bill Ackman has also criticized college protests as well as diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. But at the Milken Institute’s global conference last week, he reportedly faced intense backlash from both panelists and the audience, who told Bloomberg that his views were detrimental to the progress of women and people of color in America.
Some businesses have already sworn what are they I won’t hire students who participated in the protests, while others expressed their support.
Recently recruiting experts who spoke with Luck Opinions are divided on what impact, if any, the protests will have on students’ employability.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden earlier this month defended the rights of students protest peacefully, but rejected their demands to change its approach to the Gaza Strip, and also said that “order must prevail” in schools.
An upcoming White House report on the use of US-provided weapons in the Gaza Strip is expected to be critical of Israel, but will not conclude that Israel violated the terms of its use.