- Bill Ackman sent a 3,138-word letter to the president of Harvard on November 4.
- He said he's at Harvard's disposal when it comes to addressing on-campus antisemitism.
Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman isn't backing down in his crusade against what he says are anti-Israel students at Harvard.
On Saturday, Ackman took to X — the platform formerly known as Twitter — to share a 3,138-word letter he sent to Harvard President Claudine Gay.
Ackman said his letter was inspired by the conversations he had with Harvard's students, faculty, and alumni over the past four weeks "about the growing number of antisemitic incidents on campus."
"Jewish students are being bullied, physically intimidated, spat on, and in several widely-disseminated videos of one such incident, physically assaulted," Ackman wrote in his letter to Gay. Ackman was referring to an incident on campus in October, when an Israeli Harvard Business School student was confrontated by pro-Palestine demonstrators.
In the letter, Ackman outlined a seven-step plan that he says Harvard can take to reduce antisemitism on campus. He also demanded that the university suspend and take disciplinary action against students who he says are anti-Israel and antisemitic.
Please see my below letter to the President of Harvard University sent today:
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) November 5, 2023
November 4, 2023
Dear President Gay,
I am writing this letter to you regretfully. Never did I think I would have to write a letter to the president of my alma mater about the impact of her actions…
Ackman has been a vocal presence on X in the weeks since Hamas launched a series of terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7. For the past 26 days, the Harvard alumnus has cycled between blaming various parties for what he now says is a "growing number of antisemitic incidents on campus."
But Saturday's letter suggests that Ackman is done with dispensing his opinions and advocacy only on social media.
It started with naming and shaming the students
One day after Hamas launched its terrorist attacks against Israel, a group of Harvard student organizations signed a pro-Hamas letter that blamed Israel for the attacks.
The letter drew a vociferous response from Ackman. In a post on X on October 10, he asked Harvard to out the students who signed the letter so he and other CEOs wouldn't "inadvertently hire" those students.
To date, his post on X has been liked over 70,000 times. His suggestion was echoed by GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley, who said last week that the names of all pro-Hamas protesters should be published.
But it wasn't all positive. Ackman had to fend off criticism from MSNBC's Mehdi Hasan, who slammed his suggestion on the same day.
"Hedge fund guy who has pretended in the past to care about free speech now wants to name, shame, and punish college students for expressing views he dislikes and finds offensive," Hasan wrote in a now-deleted post on X.
Ackman said in his response to Hasan that he was "100% in support of free speech" but felt that "one should be prepared to stand up and be personally accountable for his or her views."
"There is nothing wrong with criticizing Israel. That is the essence of free speech. But you shouldn't hide behind a Harvard branded corporation while doing so anonymously," Ackman wrote on X.
Doubling down and then changing course
Things didn't end there.
On October 11, Ackman took to X again to defend his suggestion that Harvard name the students who were involved in signing the letter, saying "it is not harassment to seek to understand the character of the candidates that you are considering for employment."
However, last week, Ackman appeared to walk back those remarks.
In a post on X on October 30, he wrote that outing anti-Israel protesters would "just increase the anger."
He instead blamed social media sites for heightening tensions, accusing them of "amplifying the hate for a decade as algorithms wind us up."
Lasering in on Harvard
On November 1, Ackman turned his cannons to Harvard. In another post on X, he wrote that it was "pathetic that we need to rely on law firms and corporations to police antisemitism on campus."
Last month, the law firm Winston & Strawn revoked a job offer for a New York University law student who publicly condemned Israel for Hamas' terrorist attacks.
In his November 4 letter to Gay, he kept the pressure on Harvard.
"You have been president of Harvard, one of the most important institutions in the world, for four months at one of the most challenging times in its history," Ackman wrote in his letter to Gay. "As Harvard's leader, your words and actions are followed closely."
"As a result, the steps you take to address antisemitism at Harvard will be recognized around the world, and can contribute greatly as an example to other institutions seeking to eliminate antisemitism in all of its forms," he continued.
The billionaire told Gay that when it comes to addressing antisemitism at Harvard, he's at Harvard's disposal.
"I would be delighted to help in any way that I can to enable you to succeed in this mission and as Harvard's president. Please let me know what more I can do to help," he wrote in his letter.
Representatives for Ackman and Gay did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.