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Criticism has been building over pro-Palestinian demonstrations by Wall Street titan and Citadel founder, Ken Griffin. Griffin, who previously declared he would not hire students supporting Hamas, has dismissed these demonstrations as “performative art.” The billionaire hedge fund CEO instead urged his alma mater, Harvard University, to uphold “Western values.” Concerning what he perceives as a “cultural revolution” on American college campuses following the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas, Griffin voiced his frustrations over the state of American education, claiming it has “lost sight of education as the means of pursuing truth and acquiring knowledge.”
In an interview with the Financial Times, Griffin criticized the alleged focus on “systemic racism and systemic injustice” on college campuses, condemning it as a product of this broader cultural shift in American education. He discouraged divisive tactics and instead suggested that students could better aid Palestinians by organizing food drives.
Earlier this year, Griffin had taken issue with students at prestigious universities like Harvard, accusing them of being “whiny snowflakes.” The wealthy philanthropist even threatened to stop financial donations to Harvard if it failed to address anti-Semitism.
Griffin also critiqued the decisions on American campuses such as Columbia University to allow pro-Palestinian protesters to occupy buildings. In his perspective, acts of vandalism or building occupations are not forms of free speech but anarchy. Griffin further criticized social media gestures of support for the Black Lives Matter movement as unproductive, arguing they offer no real help in improving education.
He expresses that many affluent benefactors have significant insights into the necessary transformation and improvement strategies and that the wealthy donors he’s spoken to are deeply interested in Harvard remaining a bastion of truth-seeking and meritocracy. Neither Citadel nor Harvard have responded to requests for comments.
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