Ex-diplomat and governor Jon Huntsman rebukes his alma mater for ‘silence in the face of reprehensible and historic Hamas evil against the people of Israel.’
Former U.S. Ambassador and Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, a longtime donor to the University of Pennsylvania, notified his alma mater on Oct. 13 that he will cease donations to the school over its response to the Israel-Hamas war.
In an email obtained by The Daily Pennsylvanian, the school’s student newspaper, the 2012 Republican presidential candidate rebuked UPenn President Liz Magill for what he deemed to be an insufficient condemnation of terrorist group Hamas’s unprovoked Oct. 7 assault on Israel.
“The University’s silence in the face of reprehensible and historic Hamas evil against the people of Israel (when the only response should be outright condemnation) is a new low. Silence is antisemitism, and antisemitism is hate, the very thing higher ed was built to obviate,” Mr. Huntsman wrote.
“To the outsider, it appears that Penn has become deeply adrift in ways that make it almost unrecognizable,” he continued. “Moral relativism has fueled the university’s race to the bottom and sadly now has reached a point where remaining impartial is no longer an option.”
As a result, Mr. Huntsman, a 1987 graduate and former UPenn trustee, said his foundation would “close its checkbook on all future giving” to the school.
“My siblings join me in this rebuke,” he added.
‘Words and Ideas Matter’
The initial attack on Israel claimed the lives of more than 1,400 Israelis, the vast majority of whom were civilians. Hundreds of others were kidnapped and taken into Gaza, where some victims’ bodies were paraded through the streets in triumph.
On Oct. 10, Ms. Magill issued a joint statement with UPenn Provost John Jackson Jr. in which the officials described the attack as “abhorrent” and expressed that they were “devastated by the horrific assault.”
But for some prominent donors, the statement did not go far enough in that it made no mention or rejection of recent activity on campus that many perceived to be antisemitic.
