Harvard president says fundraising down in wake of anti-Israel turmoil

Harvard’s president is lamenting the university’s poor fundraising numbers as it continues to grapple with the fallout of a rocky year filled with campus turmoil and accusations of rampant antisemitism.

University leader Alan Garber made the comments last week as Harvard prepares to release its 2024 financial report later this month, according to the school’s student newspaper, the Harvard Crimson.

The financial update is expected to show fundraiser totals have taken a tumble in the face of alumni and other donor backlash to Harvard’s bungled response to on-campus antisemitism after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

“Some of the new commitments have been disappointing compared to past years,” Garber told the student paper. “There are also some indications that we will see improvements in the future. I can’t get more specific than that right now.”

Garber privately warned months ago that gifts would likely decline after a flood of anti-Israel protests and an unprecedented leadership crisis, the Crimson said. But his recent comments marked the first time he publicly acknowledged it.

Philanthropy has historically been Harvard’s largest revenue source, the paper said. The cash supports financial aid, research initiatives and professorships, among other things.

But such donations — which made up about half the university’s revenue in 2023 — fell among the onslaught of international scrutiny over its actions post-Oct. 7, 2023.

Some of the furor on campus has died down since its zenith this spring, when anti-Israel protesters held demonstrations and set up a tent encampment that mirrored similar protests at colleges throughout the country.

Garber — who is also the university’s chief fundraiser — has made several trips to cities across America to meet with donors, the Crimson said.

He visited benefactors in the United Kingdom, some of the school’s top donors, too, as he tried to resurrect the school’s faltering fundraising program.

“There are many alumni who have concerns about what is happening at Harvard — what has happened at Harvard — and remain very much committed to the university and care deeply about its future,” Garber said. “They’ve been quite vocal.”

He hopes new university policies and his own conversations will encourage wary alumni and donors to begin contributing again at previous levels.

“I believe that they are reassured by the direction that the university is taking,” Garber told the paper. “They are relieved, at least that so far, this academic year has been somewhat quieter.”

“There is more attention being paid to the mission of the university — to the research and to the teaching and to the learning that occurs here,” he said.