Investment manager Ross Stevens has retracted a donation with an estimated value of $100 million, initially given to his Alma Mater, the University of Pennsylvania. This substantial donation was initially bestowed to fund the Stevens Center for Innovation in Finance. Stevens, who is the co-founder of Stone Ridge Asset Management, attributed the school’s approach to dealing with antisemitism as the motivating factor behind his decision to take back his philanthropy.
Representing Stevens, attorneys cited a marked violation of anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies as reasons for their client’s actions. These policies are established standards that the school had agreed to uphold to maintain its investor status.
Ross Stevens’ withdrawal of his sizable donation throws a spotlight on the issues of hate speech and antisemitism in educational institutions—an issue that legal professionals across leading corporations and law firms need to address thoughtfully.