Billionaire donors rethink Columbia University support amid pro-Palestinian protests

• Billionaire donors like Robert Kraft and Leon Cooperman are weighing their support for Columbia University as tensions rise on campus over heated pro-Palestinian protests and reports of antisemitic speech.
• Kraft said he is "not comfortable supporting" Columbia until the administration takes harsher action against the protests.
• Cooperman said he is "uncomfortable" with the situation on campus but plans to continue his contributions to Columbia's business school.
• Columbia's president now faces competing pressures from her student body, wealthy donors and government officials, echoing similar backlash directed at leaders of Harvard, Penn and MIT in December.

Billionaire donors like Robert Kraft and Leon Cooperman are weighing their support for Columbia University amid rising campus tensions over pro-Palestinian protests.

Friction at Columbia has escalated in recent days, amid reports of antisemitic speech on and around the campus, where students have set up a tent encampment to protest Israel's bombardment of Gaza.

Kraft, who has donated millions to the school, condemned the protests on Monday, hours after Columbia President Nemat "Minouche" Shafik announced that classes would be held virtually "to deescalate the rancor" of the protests.

"I am not comfortable supporting the university until corrective action is taken," Kraft said in a statement. "It is my hope that Columbia and its leadership will stand up to this hate by ending these protests immediately and will work to earn back the respect and trust of the many of us who have lost faith in the institution."

Kraft is the chairman and CEO of the Kraft Group and the founder of the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism (FCAS). He also owns the New England Patriots. In 2000,