Billionaire Bill Ackman has condemned non-profit news watchdog Accuracy in Media after the group doxxed the home of Harvard president Claudine Gay amid criticism of her testimony at a Congressional hearing on campus antisemitism.
The group deployed four billboard-bearing trucks outside Ms Gay’s home near Harvard’s campus in Massachusetts on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Each billboard featured a different message, with one imploring Ms Gay “to RESIGN,” while another digital billboard claimed she “REFUSES to protect Jewish students.”
Another read: “Claudine Gay: the best friend Hamas ever had.”
Accuracy in Media previously made headlines when they exposed the names of Harvard students allegedly linked to a letter, co-signed by a group of 33 student organisations, including the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee, which argued that Israel’s “apartheid regime” had created the impetus for the Israel-Hamas war.
The incident occurred shortly after Mr Ackman had called for the signators of the letter to be blacklisted from top Wall Street firms – a move he was heavily criticised for following Accuracy in Media’s stunt.
On Wednesday, Mr Ackman condemned Accuracy in Media’s latest action, writing on X: “Whoever is behind the so-called doxxing trucks at @Harvard needs to stop this now.
Each billboard featured a different message, with one imploring Ms Gay ‘to RESIGN’— (Accuracy in Media)
“We can agree or disagree with @Harvard, and we can support or criticize President Gay’s leadership. But to disrupt her home with these trucks is unfair to her and her family, and an insult to all of us,” he said.
“Please stop,” he added.
Accuracy in Media president Adam Guillette has defended the doxxing, telling the New York Post: “I think accountability is incredibly important, and we’ve never counted on universities to hold their out-of-control presidents accountable. That’s where we come in.
“I think [Gay] needs to, one, put a greater focus on protecting Jewish and pro-Israel students on campus and, two, stand up to terrorist sympathizers on campus.
“If she’s not going to do that, then she should get similar treatment that those students received,” Mr Guillette said.
The Independent has contacted Ms Gay’s office for comment.
The group has been heavily critical of testimony Ms Gay gave at a congressional hearing on college antisemitism last week alongside UPenn president Liz Magill and MIT president Sally Kornbluth.
At the hearing, the three presidents were asked whether student protesters who said the phrases “intifada” or “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” would qualify as violating the universities’ codes of conduct on bullying and harassment.
The three women failed to explicitly state that the phrases would violate their colleges’ bullying and harassment codes. Instead, they took the stance that it ”depends on the context.”
In a statement on its website posted last week, Accuracy in Media called the three presidents’ testimony “limp at best and arguably complicit in the antisemitism taking place on their campuses.”
All three women have since apologised for their comments, with Ms Magill later resigning from her position after UPenn alum and Wall Street CEO Ross Stevens threatened to strip the university of a $100m donation if she did not step down.
However, Ms Gay and Ms Kornbluth have so far resisted calls for their resignation. The Harvard Corporation, the university’s highest governing body, released a statement on Tuesday throwing their unanimous support behind Ms Gay, calling her the “right leader to help our community heal”.
Meanwhile, the Executive Committee of the MIT Corporation, MIT’s governing board, issued a statement last week saying that Ms Kornbluth has their “full and unreserved support.”
From left to right, Dr. Claudine Gay, President of Harvard University, Liz Magill, President of University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Pamela Nadell, Professor of History and Jewish Studies at American University, and Dr. Sally Kornbluth, President of Massachusetts Institute of Technology— (Getty Images)
Their testimony generated significant criticism and intense scrutiny from business leaders and donors in addition to lawmakers.
Following the hearing, a bipartisan group of lawmakers sent a letter to the governing boards of Harvard, UPenn, and MIT urging them to remove their university leaders.
Mr Ackman also called on the three university presidents to “resign in disgrace.”
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the three college presidents, calling their testimony “evasive and dismissive.”
The resolution, which passed in a 303-126 vote, also called on Ms Gay and Ms Kornbluth to resign from their positions.
