UPenn's top donor: Campus antisemitism is bleeding into anti-Americanism

Antisemitism on US campuses is bleeding into anti-Americanism, explained Marc Rowan, CEO of Apollo Global Management, at the Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York on Monday.

Rowan, a billionaire investor and philanthropist, is the largest donor to the University of Pennsylvania, his alma mater. In 2023, following accusations of antisemitism on campus, he helped spearhead a campaign to fire university president Liz Magill.

Speaking to Jerusalem Post Editor-in-Chief Zvika Klein, Rowan explained that the problem of antisemitism on campus goes far beyond just impacting Jews.

'Vast majority of the US is normal'

“The vast majority of this country is normal – totally normal,” he said. “Every poll everywhere done says that this country believes in right and wrong, moral and immoral. People are interested in family and career and friends, and are patriotic. That’s the good news. The bad news is that there are centers – important centers – of this country that don’t believe these things.”

These centers, Rowan said, want to change everything about society, from the way people relate to each other to history and the notion of the American dream and meritocracy.

“They seek to sort us into groups based on a perception – their own perception – of whether we are an oppressed or an oppressor,” he said. “That’s the fight we have on these campuses. Is there antisemitism? You betcha there’s antisemitism. But it’s very hard to separate what’s happening on our campuses today from anti-Americanism.”

This is why it’s important to recognize that this problem goes beyond just the Jews, but should be a problem for all Americans, he said.

“If we seek to make this solely a fight of the Jews, there are few of us. If we seek to make alliances... we have lots of allies. But it does start with us,” Rowan said.

When asked about the role of philanthropy, Rowan said that there should be a way for philanthropists to hold people to account.

“We have not exacted a price for being antisemitic, we have not called people out,” the philanthropist said. “We wouldn’t hire someone who was anti-black, anti-gay, anti-woman, anti-Indian, anti-Hindu. Why would I hire someone who was antisemitic?

“Why would I not call out philanthropic institutions who behave in an antisemitic fashion?” Rowan asked. “Why would I give to organizations, cultural organizations or otherwise, who are making it difficult for Jews? This is just common sense.”