Uncategorized

Penn Donor Threatens to Rescind $100 Million Donation Unless President Is Ousted

Melissa Korn and Joseph De Avila:

A major donor to the University of Pennsylvania has told the school he would rescind a $100 million gift if the school doesn’t replace President Liz Magill, who has faced intensifying criticism for her handling of antisemitism on campus—most recently because of how she defined harassment in a congressional hearing earlier this week.

Ross Stevens, founder and chief executive of Stone Ridge Holdings Group, a financial-services firm, informed Penn on Thursday he would cancel $100 million worth of Stone Ridge shares held by the university, according to a letter sent by his attorneys to the school. Stevens, a 1991 Penn graduate, donated shares to fund the Stevens Center for Innovation in Finance at the university’s Wharton School, according to the letter. The donation was made in 2017.

Stone Ridge had grounds to cancel the shares based on Magill’s recent congressional testimony, the letter said. The company has the discretion to cancel the shares if Penn engages in conduct that is “materially injurious to [Stone Ridge’s] business, reputation, character or standing,” the letter said.

During her testimony Tuesday in front of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Magill was asked if calling for the genocide of Jewish students would violate school policies. Magill said it depended on the context.