Billionaire Harvard alum accuses university of discriminating against White males, conservatives

Billionaire and Harvard graduate Bill Ackman called out his alma-mater for having "discriminatory practices" against White males, Asians, and conservatives in a scathing open letter posted to social media on Sunday.

Ackman, the CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, previously penned a letter to Harvard President Claudine Gay, demanding she crack down on antisemitism on campus that rose in the wake of the Hamas' terror attacks on Israel.

Ackman noted the university was now under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education over its alleged antisemitism problem, and said that senior faculty on campus revealed to him antisemitism was just one of the ways the elite university practices racial and viewpoint discrimination. 

In his letter, anonymous faculty described Harvard as a place where "loud, hate-filled protests appear to be encouraged, but where faculty and students can’t share points of view that are inconsistent with the accepted narrative on campus." Students are taught that slavery and colonialism are the "animating forces of history," and this ideology "dominates" the classroom conversation and coursework, another complaint said.

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Billionaire and Harvard alum Bill Ackman wrote a letter to Harvard University describing faculty complaints over free speech and the campus's Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (OEDIB). (Chris Ratcliffe/Michael Fein/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Antisemitism is tolerated on campus because Jews are seen as White, one faculty member explained.

"Whiteness at Harvard is deemed fundamentally oppressive. Indigenous peoples are presented as in need of justice and reparations. Jews are presented as white people. It is therefore ok to hate Israel and Jews as they are deemed to be oppressors," the person said.

Faculty also complained about the impact of Harvard's Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (OEDIB) on students and faculty.

"The ODEIB [sic] is a home for people who are perceived to have been victimized," faculty said. "The ODEIB is at the service of Black students, to a lesser extent brown students, and to a lesser extent LGBTQ students." 

"It’s about whiteness versus people of color," another complaint read. The office's standards are also enforced in hiring practices, faculty said, in excluding more qualified candidates if they are a "White or Asian straight male."

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Black, pro-Palestinian students at Harvard. (Williams Paul/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Ackman said he was "saddened" to hear how his beloved university had "lost its way," and "embarrassed" by his previous lack of awareness about these problems on campus. 

"The problems at Harvard are clearly not just about Jews and Israel. It is abundantly clear that straight White males are discriminated against in recruitment and advancement at Harvard. That is also apparently true to a somewhat lesser extent for men who are Asians or of Indian origin. The ODEIB is an important culprit in this discrimination on campus as it sees the world in a framework of oppressors and the oppressed, where the oppressor class includes white males, Asians, Jews and other people perceived to be successful and powerful," he analyzed.

Ackman warned the university that discrimination is "not just illegal, but it is extremely damaging to our nation’s competitiveness." He argued that our adversaries do not choose their "best and brightest" based on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion metrics.

Harvard University President Claudine Gay will testify before Congress to address antisemitism on campus. (Erin Clark/The Boston Globe)

He implored the university president to address the antisemitism problem as well as these other complaints, even if she faces pushback from "radical left-wing" faculty members.

"Antisemitism is the canary in the coal mine for other discriminatory practices at Harvard," he said.

"When 34 Harvard student organizations came out in support of Hamas’ barbaric terrorism, it was a wake-up call for me. I hope that having to face the Congress on Tuesday will be a wake-up call for you," he told Gay.

Ackman made headlines in October after he called on the university to reveal the names of students who signed a letter blaming the Hamas’ terror attacks on Israel, so he and other executives could avoid hiring them in the future.

Harvard President Claudine Gay did not immediately return a request for comment.

Kristine Parks is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Read more.