MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Who is David Magerman? Major donor pulls funding after University of Pennsylvania's response to Israel-Hamas war draws ire

David Magerman donated $5 million to the school in 2012 with his wife Debra Magerman, with whom he shares four young children

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: David Magerman, a computer scientist and philanthropist who is the co-founder and managing partner of Differential Ventures, has slashed his funding to the University of Pennsylvania following their response to Hamas' attack on Israel.

Magerman, who graduated with a BS degree from UPenn, announced his decision in a letter to President Liz Magill and Chairman Scott Bok, saying he is "deeply ashamed" of being linked to the prestigious university.

"I am deeply ashamed of my association with the University of Pennsylvania. I refuse to donate another dollar to Penn,” he said in the letter, according to Daily Mail.

Magerman donated $ 5 million to the school in 2012 with his wife Debra Magerman, with whom he shares four young children.

Magerman, who received his PhD in computer science from Stanford University, has worked on several business ventures. He spent nearly 22 years working for an investment management company and hedge fund, Renaissance Technologies, which he left in 2017.

What did David Magerman say about the University of Pennsylvania?

In his letter, Magerman accused the leadership of UPenn of failing to join "Israel's fight against evil," and said he hopes “all self-respecting Jews” dissociate themselves from the university.

“There is no action anyone at Penn can take to change that. You have shown me who you are, my only remaining hope is that all self-respecting Jews, and all moral citizens of the world, dissociate themselves from Penn,” he said.

The Torah-observant Jew then continued attacking the board by noting its "equivocating statements about the heinous acts of barbarism perpetrated by the same Hamas you allowed these speakers to promote.'"

Magerman accused them of presiding over a "misguided moral compass" at the school and said firing them would be "wholly inadequate.”

Following Magerman’s decision, President Magill released a statement saying, “Alumni are important members of the Penn community. I hear their anger, pain, and frustration and am taking action to make clear that I stand, and Penn stands, emphatically against the terrorist attacks by Hamas in Israel and against anti-Semitism.”

“As a University, we support and encourage the free exchange of ideas, along with a commitment to the safety and security of our community and the values we share and work to advance. Penn has a moral responsibility to combat antisemitism and to educate our community to recognize and reject hate in all its forms,” the statement noted.

It continued, “I’ve said we should have communicated faster and more broadly about where we stand, but let there be no doubt that we are steadfast in our beliefs.”

Donors pull donations from UPenn

Magerman’s disassociation from UPenn comes after the university hosted the Palestine Writes Literary Festival, which many said gave antisemitism a platform.

The festival provoked a fierce outcry, leading Apollo CEO Marc Rowan to urge donors to the University of Pennsylvania to halt their funding or send just $1 in protest.

Rowan is a graduate of UPenn's Wharton Business School and donated $50 million to Wharton in 2018 along with his wife.

Jonathon Jacobson of Highsage Ventures made good on Rowan's suggestion to donate $1 to the university, calling the college "virtually unrecognizable."

Jacobson and his wife have been generous donors who have given tens of millions to UPenn, established academic scholarships, and taken the initiative to restore the basketball program.

"There has been a litany of issues over the last several years where the administration has shown no leadership, moral courage, or an ability to distinguish between what is clearly right and clearly wrong," he said.