Wharton’s donations fall after Hamas attack on Israel causes rift between business college and donors
Donations have dropped at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School since Hamas’ October attack on Israel sparked tensions between the Ivy League business college and its donors, who have raised concerns over antisemitism and freedom of speech on campus.
The Wharton School’s dean, Erika James, told the Financial Times that gifts from funders dropped in recent months, though the losses were offset by extra revenues from tuition and income from the school’s other activities.
James wouldn’t give precise figures ahead of the end of the university’s fiscal year in June. Because UPenn is a private institution, its financials aren’t public.
“There has been a dip in donations,” James told FT. “In any year, one [income source] will underperform. Now philanthropy is coming back. We weathered the storm.”
Wharton’s tuition costs, as well as fees, housing, food, class supplies and other personal expenses related to living on campus, totaled $92,228 for the 2023 school year, according to the university’s website.
By contrast, undergraduate programs at Wharton cost roughly $61,000 a decade ago.
This past school year, Wharton reportedly touted a mere 4.5% acceptance rate, meaning it admitted just 665 students out of nearly 11,000 applicants.
To bolster donations, James has launched a fresh round of discussions with donors, to whom she’s been stressing Wharton’s commitment to “creating knowledge useful to society” and strengthening its lessons on conflict management, productive engagement and civil discourse, according to FT.
The business school has had a strong reputation in finance since its founding as the world’s oldest collegiate business school in 1881. Notable graduates since then have included former President Donald Trump, JD Power of his eponymous data analytics giant, Pepsi CEO John Sculley and Wall Street legend Peter Lynch, among others.
Fellow alumnus Marc Rowan, who went on to become the billionaire chief of Apollo Global Management, was one of the most outspoken critics of Wharton since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, calling for tougher rules around students protesting against Israel.
He also threatened to close his checkbook after September, when UPenn’s leadership ignored warnings that pro-Palestinian student groups were featuring antisemitic speakers during a “Palestine Writes Literature Festival.”
The festival took place during the Jewish high holy days and featured speakers who called for “death to Israel.”
So many potential and current donors joined Rowan’s effort that the $21 billion UPenn endowment was at risk of being deprived of as much as $1 billion, sources previously told The Post.
Rowan, who also chairs the school’s alumni body, the Wharton Board of Advisors, proposed a code of conduct that sought to further regulate speech at the school in December.
James did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Rowan’s request came after Jewish students studying at the prestigious university told The Post that the atmosphere on campus was “really scary.”
One student, 19-year-old Claudia Tawil, told The Post late last year that Jewish students have been continually harassed on campus and subjected to chants in support of Hamas’ violence, including: “There is only one solution: intifada resolution.”
The chemistry student explained that phrase deliberately echoes Hitler’s “final solution” and calls for deadly violence against Jewish people in Israel.
The pressure from billionaire benefactors ultimately led to the resignation of UPenn’s chair of the board of trustees, Scott Bok, as well as the resignation of university president Liza Magill.
