Apollo CEO Marc Rowan demands UPenn leaders resign over failure to condemn Hamas terror: ‘Close the checkbooks’
One of the University of Pennsylvania’s biggest benefactors called on alums of the Ivy League school to “close the checkbooks” over the college’s failure to condemn Hamas’ terror attack on Israel – weeks after it held a controversial pro-Palestinian festival.
Apollo Management CEO Marc Rowan – a graduate of Wharton who along with his wife donated $50 million to the business school in 2018 – demanded UPenn President Liz Magill and Scott Bok, chair of the board of trustees, step down, according to a letter obtained by The Post.
The letter sent to the school’s newspaper, the Daily Pennsylvanian, pointed to last month’s festival that included writers who have called for “Death to Israel” as a troubling sign that the vaunted school tolerates antisemitism.
“It took less than two weeks to go from the Palestine Writes Literary Festival on UPenn’s campus to the barbaric slaughter and kidnapping of Israelis,” wrote Rowan, who is chairman of the Board of Advisors of Wharton.
“President Magill’s allowing of UPenn’s imprimatur to be associated with this conference, and her failure to condemn this hate-filled call for ethnic cleansing, normalized and legitimized violence that ranged from the targeting of Jewish students and spaces here at UPenn to the horrific attacks in Israel.”
Magill has remained silent about Saturday’s terror attack, instead posting on Instagram about Penn’s recent football game and Monday’s Columbus Day holiday.
She posted a photo with a caption saying it’s a day to “recognize and honor native and indigenous peoples and celebrate their culture, history, and importance as members of the Penn community.”
The post drew scorn from her social media followers.
“How about some mention of the devastations going on in Israel,” one user asked.
Another student wrote, “Please support your jewish and Israeli students.”
Rowan noted the “sickening parallels” between events at Penn and at Harvard — where several student groups blamed Israel for last weekend’s Hamas massacre that killed more than 1,000 – many of them women, children and the elderly.
“I call on all UPenn alumni and supporters who believe we are heading in the wrong direction to ‘Close their Checkbooks'” until Magill and Bok resign, Rowan wrote.
“Join me and many others who love UPenn by sending UPenn $1 in place of your normal, discretionary contribution so that no one misses the point.”
More than 4,000 UPenn alumni recently signed an open letter that said Magill and UPenn are moving in the wrong direction, Rowan added in his op-ed.
“This is happening two weeks after she allowed neo-nazi speakers on campus,” another enraged Penn source said.
A spokesperson for Rowan declined further comment.
On Thursday, the vice chair of Penn’s Board of Trustees, Julie Platt, expressed “solidarity with all those who have been impacted by the horrific assault on Israel by Hamas and in condemning these hateful acts of terror.”
“The University has publicly committed to unprecedented steps to further combat antisemitism on its campus, reaffirmed deep support for our Jewish community, and condemned the devastating and barbaric attacks on Israel by Hamas,” Platt said in a statement sent to The Post.
“The Executive Committee of Penn’s Board of Trustees has unanimously endorsed the actions taken by the University, and I have full confidence in the leadership of President Liz Magill and Chair Scott Bok.”
The anger at Magill follows the pro-Palestinian festival that included author Aya Ghanameh, who has called for “Death to Israel,” and writer Randa Abdel-Fattah, who has said Israel is a “demonic, sick project” and that she “can’t wait for the day we commemorate its end.”
Backlash over the event led the school to issue a statement defending its decision to invite the controversial speakers.
“We unequivocally — and emphatically — condemn antisemitism as antithetical to our institutional values. As a university, we also fiercely support the free exchange of ideas as central to our educational mission. This includes the expression of views that are controversial and even those that are incompatible with our institutional values,” the school said.
