Ivy universities don’t care about donor money: George Will

(NewsNation) — As megadonors pledged to withdraw their support and donations to elite colleges due to concerns about antisemitism, NewsNation senior political contributor George Will argues it does nothing. 

“Penn, Harvard, Yale and Princeton are so ungodly rich that it really doesn’t matter,” Will said in an “On Balance” interview. 

Will attributed this indifference to the immense wealth of institutions like Harvard, whose endowment approaches $50 billion, making smaller donations inconsequential. 

“When the alumni say we’re going to close our wallets, Princeton can say, well, we’re going to close our minds because it just doesn’t matter that much,” he added. 

Bill Ackman at Harvard and Jon Huntsman at the University of Pennsylvania paused donations to the universities. 

Will said these strategies don’t work when trying to pressure universities to take drastic action against antisemitism. 

“Princeton could run itself without charging tuition, could pay all of its faculty expenses and support all its students just off with the endowment throws off,” he said. 

The presidents of the University of Pennsylvania, MIT, and Harvard testified Tuesday during a congressional hearing that delved into the troubling rise of incidents targeting Jewish students.

Will weighed in on the situation, characterizing these elite universities as having dug themselves into a deep hole. Will urged the institutions to decide whether to adopt political agendas or maintain neutrality on public affairs. 

“These universities have to decide whether or not they’re going to have political agendas and take political stances or be more sensible and back off,” Will said. 

Harvard remains under investigation by the Department of Education over its response to complaints of harassment against Jewish and Israeli students.

Rallies and protests continue on some campuses, calling for a cease-fire and for hostages to be released from Hamas captivity. But other anti-Israel protests and hate incidents have led to concerns, including vandalism and controversial or threatening messages heard and seen on some campuses.

NewsNation’s Tom Dempsey contributed to this report.