Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman is famous not just for his wealth but for his outspoken nature. In the past few months, he was very vocal about his disapproval of former Harvard president Claudine Gay. As Gay had no choice but to resign, Ackman was one of the people who was happy with the decision.
The billionaire always blamed Gay for the ‘degradation’ of the university and for promoting antisemitism. However, since Gay retired, Ackman has a new target: DEI. According to him, Gay was only one of the issues wrong with the university, and DEI is the “root cause of antisemitism at Harvard.”
Just a few hours after he celebrated the former president’s resignation, Ackman dropped a 4000-word essay on why DEI needs to die. He criticized Harvard’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies, stating several reasons why it does more harm than good.
He wrote, “Under DEI, one’s degree of oppression is determined based upon where one resides on a so-called intersectional pyramid of oppression where whites, Jews, and Asians are deemed oppressors, and a subset of people of color, LGBTQ people, and/or women are deemed to be oppressed.”
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Therefore, he believes this system is partial towards a particular group. He also believes that DEI is essentially racist, even if some people don’t see it that way. “DEI is racist because reverse racism is racism, even if it is against white people (and it is remarkable that I even need to point this out),” Ackman wrote.
In addition, he noted that DEI only caused further divisions in society rather than bringing everyone together. “The country has seen burgeoning resentment and anger grow materially over the last few years, and the DEI movement is an important contributor to our growing divisiveness,” the letter said.
“Resentment is one of the most important drivers of racism. And it is the lack of equity, i.e., fairness, in how DEI operates, that contributes to this resentment,” it continued. Furthermore, Ackman called for the resignation of the Corporation Board members who supported Gay.
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The billionaire believes that all members who supported DEI should no longer be on the board. “The Board should not be principally comprised of individuals who share the same politics and views about DEI. The new board members should be chosen in a transparent process with the assistance of the 30-person Board of Overseers,” he wrote.
Like many Republicans, Ackman thinks the university should shut down its DEI office. Ackman’s 4000-word essay on this issue came as no surprise as it was not his first time doing so. In fact, he wrote three long open letters to Harvard in 2023, citing his disapproval of Gay’s leadership and actions.
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Florida State Governor Ron DeSantis was also very vocal about his thoughts on DEI and Gay’s leadership in 2023. So, some people assume Ackman is a sort of right-wing man for DeSantis.
However, he cleared up this speculation, saying, “I am not right wing. I operate only in good faith, and I am not a bully. I just pay attention to the facts and see where they take me.”
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