Bill Ackman's Call For Transparency: Should Harvard Disclose Student Critics Of Israel?

Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman said he has been asked by "a number of CEOs" if Harvard University would release the names of students who are part of organizations who, over the weekend, blamed Israel for the Hamas attacks to the country.

The purpose of that would be "to insure that none of us inadvertently hire any of their members," the CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management said in a post on X, previously known as Twitter, without identifying any of the CEOs who contacted him.

"If, in fact, their members support the letter they have released, the names of the signatories should be made public so their views are publicly known," Ackman continued. "One should not be able to hide behind a corporate shield when issuing statements supporting the actions of terrorists."

More than 30 Harvard student organizations posted a statement on Facebook over the weekend saying Israel is "entirely responsible for all unfolding violence."

Harvard President Claudine Gay dissociated the University from that position.

"While our students have the right to speak for themselves, no student group — not even 30 student groups — speaks for Harvard University or its leadership," Gay said in a statement Monday, also blaming Hamas for the attacks. "Let there be no doubt that I condemn the terrorist atrocities perpetrated by Hamas. Such inhumanity is abhorrent, whatever one's individual views of the origins of longstanding conflicts in the region."

Gay's comments came after strong criticism from Harvard former students, faculty members and politicians from the left and the right.

"I am sickened. I cannot fathom the Administration's failure to disassociate the University and condemn this statement," Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who is also a professor and president emeritus at Harvard, posted on X on Monday in reference to the silence of Harvard until then. "I very much hope appropriate statements from the University and College condemning those who launched terrorist attacks and standing in solidarity with its victims will soon be forthcoming."

Summers, 68, was Treasury Secretary from 1999 to 2001, during the Clinton presidency. He also served as director of the National Economic Council from 2009 to 2010, under the Obama administration.