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Harvard Donations Drop By 15% Amid Antisemitism Scandals
Matthews Hall, Harvard University. Photo: Daderot/Wikimedia Commons.
JNS.org – Amid dissatisfaction with Harvard University’s handling of antisemitism on campus, donations to that institution this year dropped by 15% over 2023, according to a financial report released on Thursday.
The drop to $1.17 billion in 2024 from $1.38 billion the previous year constitutes the greatest decline in donations in nearly a decade for Harvard, one of the nation’s oldest and wealthiest institutions, Bloomberg reported.
“Some of the new commitments have been disappointing compared to past years,” Harvard President Alan Garber said in an interview with The Harvard Crimson.
Incidents of antisemitism at Harvard over the Israel-Hamas conflict have put the institution at the center of a national controversy.
In January, billionaire donor Ken Griffin cited these issues in announcing that he would cease donations, fearing that the university had “lost its way,” as he put it. “Until Harvard makes it clear that they’re committed to educating young leaders and tackling tough issues, I’m not interested in supporting the institution,” Griffin told CNBC.
Len Blavatnik also suspended his donations following concerns over the university’s handling of antisemitism, according to Bloomberg. His foundation has donated at least $270 million to Harvard.
Earlier this year, Claudine Gay resigned as Harvard president amid controversy over plagiarism and her testimony in a congressional hearing on antisemitism, in which she said that calls to commit genocide against Jews might not violate Harvard’s code of conduct.
Whether or not such calls constituted a violation of Harvard’s rules “depended on the context,” she said, and answer for which she later apologized.
Despite the overall decline in 2024, however, Harvard’s financial position remains robust. Donations that can be spent immediately, known as “current use donations,” reached over $525 million—the second-highest level in the university’s history.
The post Harvard Donations Drop By 15% Amid Antisemitism Scandals first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Kurdish-led SDF Say Five Members Killed During Attack by Islamic State in Syria
Islamic State slogans painted along the walls of the tunnel was used by Islamic State militants as an underground training camp in the hillside overlooking Mosul, Iraq, March 4, 2017. Photo: via Reuters Connect.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said on Sunday that five of its members had been killed during an attack by Islamic State militants on a checkpoint in eastern Syria’s Deir el-Zor on July 31.
The SDF was the main fighting force allied to the United States in Syria during fighting that defeated Islamic State in 2019 after the group declared a caliphate across swathes of Syria and Iraq.
The Islamic State has been trying to stage a comeback in the Middle East, the West and Asia. Deir el-Zor city was captured by Islamic State in 2014, but the Syrian army retook it in 2017.
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Armed Groups Attack Security Force Personnel in Syria’s Sweida, Killing One, State TV Reports
People ride a motorcycle past a burned-out military vehicle, following deadly clashes between Druze fighters, Sunni Bedouin tribes, and government forces, in Syria’s predominantly Druze city of Sweida, Syria, July 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Armed groups attacked personnel from Syria’s internal security forces in Sweida, killing one member and wounding others, and fired shells at several villages in the violence-hit southern province, state-run Ekhbariya TV reported on Sunday.
The report cited a security source as saying the armed groups had violated the ceasefire agreed in the predominantly Druze region, where factional bloodshed killed hundreds of people last month.
Violence in Sweida erupted on July 13 between tribal fighters and Druze factions. Government forces were sent to quell the fighting, but the bloodshed worsened, and Israel carried out strikes on Syrian troops in the name of the Druze.
The Druze are a minority offshoot of Islam with followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Sweida province is predominantly Druze but is also home to Sunni tribes, and the communities have had long-standing tensions over land and other resources.
A US-brokered truce ended the fighting, which had raged in Sweida city and surrounding towns for nearly a week. Syria said it would investigate the clashes, setting up a committee to investigate the attacks.
The Sweida bloodshed last month was a major test for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, after a wave of sectarian violence in March that killed hundreds of Alawite citizens in the coastal region.
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Netanyahu Urges Red Cross to Aid Gaza Hostages
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference, in Jerusalem, May 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/Pool
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he spoke with the International Red Cross’s regional head, Julien Lerisson, and requested his involvement in providing food and medical care to hostages held in Gaza.