Ken Griffin, the billionaire founder of the hedge fund Citadel, wader deeper into the national debate about American colleges and the protests that have consumed many campuses over Israel\u2019s war in Gaza.<\/p>\n
In an interview with the Financial Times<\/em><\/a>, the Harvard alum and mega-donor decried the social justice \u201cnarrative\u201d at some schools.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat you\u2019re seeing now is the end-product of this cultural revolution in American education playing out on American campuses, in particular, using the paradigm of the oppressor and the oppressed,\u201d Griffin said, comparing protests to \u201cperformative art\u201d that doesn\u2019t help Palestinians or Israelis.<\/p>\n Campuses nationwide have been roiled since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas and Israel\u2019s response in Gaza. In the U.S., thousands have been arrested at colleges<\/a>, while presidents at Ivy League schools have stepped down, including at Harvard, and graduation ceremonies have been canceled. <\/p>\n Griffin and others on Wall Street have been weighing in on the protests, especially at elite colleges. In January, he called Harvard students \u201cwhiny snowflakes\u201d and halted his donations to the school, which have topped $500 million. On Monday, he said the protests were the result of a \u201cfailed education system,\u201d adding that the situation at Harvard looked better than at Columbia, where police raids last month cleared out protesters and their encampment<\/a>.<\/p>\n When asked by the Financial Times<\/em> what Harvard should do next, Griffin replied, \u201cHarvard should put front and center [that it] stands for meritocracy in America and will educate the next generation of leaders in American business, government, healthcare, and the philanthropic community. Harvard will embrace our Western values that have built one of the greatest nations in the world, foster those values with students, and ask them to manifest these values throughout the rest of their life.\u201d<\/p>\n Harvard did not immediately respond to Fortune\u2019s<\/em> request for comment.<\/p>\n Fellow hedge fund manager Bill Ackman has similarly been critical of college protests as well as diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. But at the Milken Institute Global Conference this past week, he reportedly faced sharp backlash from both panelists and audience members, who told Bloomberg that his views were detrimental to the progress of women and people of color in America<\/a>.<\/p>\n Some businesses have\u00a0already vowed<\/a>\u00a0that they\u00a0won\u2019t hire students<\/a>\u00a0who participated in the protests, while others have\u00a0voiced their support<\/a>.<\/p>\n Recently, recruiting experts who spoke to\u00a0Fortune<\/em><\/a>\u00a0were split on what effect the protests will have on students\u2019 ability to get hired, if any.\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, President Joe Biden earlier this month\u00a0defended the right of students<\/a>\u00a0to protest peacefully but rejected their demand to change his approach on Gaza and also said \u201corder must prevail\u201d at schools.<\/p>\n