Sparks of war in the Middle East are flying out of nowhere. Endowments at American universities are rapidly decreasing due to the Middle East war.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 24th (local time) that, as students at some prestigious universities in the United States took the side of Palestine, graduates stopped donating one after another out of skepticism about whether they should donate to their juniors who think this way. did.
As some prestigious American college students showed an unusual stance of supporting Palestine in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, successful alumni became disillusioned with this and stopped donating one after another.
For example, immediately after the outbreak of the Israeli-Palestinian war on the 7th, the Harvard University Palestine Solidarity Group issued a statement criticizing Israel.
33 student organizations signed this statement. In a statement, the students claimed that “the cause of all violence lies with the Israeli regime.”
Immediately after the announcement of the statement, former Harvard University President Larry Summers, who served as Secretary of the Treasury, tweeted “The silence of Harvard University authorities is even more deplorable,” he said.
Not only former Minister Summers but also many alumni are angry at the current students’ attitude.
David Magerman, a hedge fund manager, said, “I was angry when students at my alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, issued a statement saying the violence in the Middle East was horrific but did not explicitly criticize Hamas.”
The successful hedge fund manager previously donated millions of dollars to his alma mater. He declared, “With this incident as an opportunity, I will sever ties with my alma mater,” and “there will be no more donations.”
WSJ analyzed that this is because most successful alumni are conservative and strongly support Israel, but students currently attending the university are relatively liberal and do not blindly support Israel.
In addition to hedge fund manager Magerman, there have been a series of declarations that he no longer donates to his alma mater.
Officials agree that this will seriously damage the university’s finances.
An official at Harvard University predicted, “Even if that were not the case, donations are decreasing due to the economic slowdown, and this phenomenon will lead to a significant decrease in donations, which will increase difficulties in running the university.”
He added, “Famous universities in the eastern United States, such as Harvard, are highly dependent on donations.”
In fact, 45% of Harvard’s $5.8 billion (approximately 7.8 trillion won) in income last year was donations.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.