Columbia University is failing to clear out the disruptive anti-Israel encampment on campus because its “ultra-liberal” board of trustees is stacked with Democratic apparatchiks and megadonors whose judgment is clouded, critics told The Post.
Among those trusted with governing the Ivy League college are a billionaire from the prominent Pritzker family; a hedge-funder who has donated well over $4 million to Democratic causes, including $775,000 just this election cycle; President Barack Obama’s former homeland security secretary, and a federal judge appointed to the bench by President Bill Clinton.
“It’s no surprise that the board of trustees for a university allowing woke left-wing ideology and antisemitism to fester is made up of Democrat operatives and donors,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) said.
At least six of the board’s 21 trustees have direct ties to the Democratic Party, according to an investigation by The Post, which examined voter registration and political donation records as well as other public documents.
Two trustees, meanwhile, are registered to vote as Republicans.
“It is a board of Democratic supporters. It’s clouding their judgment on what Columbia administration should do,” New York state GOP chairman Ed Cox said.
“The board is conflicted as President Biden is. The board is playing politics and the administration is play politics.”
The details of the board’s lefty ties comes as Columbia University’s embattled president Minouche Shafik continues to face mounting calls to resign for refusing to do more to crack down on the relentless anti-Israel protests at the Morningside Heights campus.
Antisemitism controversy at Columbia University: Key events
- More than 280 anti-Israel demonstrators were cuffed at Columbia and the City of New York campuses overnight in a “massive” NYPD operation.
- One hundred and nine people were nabbed at the Ivy League campus after cops responded to Columbia’s request to help oust a destructive mob that had illegally taken over the Hamilton Hall academic building late Tuesday, NYC Mayor Eric Adams and police said.
- Hizzoner blamed the on-campus chaos on insurgents who have a “history of escalating situations and trying to create chaos” instead of protesting peacefully.
- Columbia’s embattled president Minouche Shafik, who has faced mounting calls to resign for not cracking down sooner, issued a statement Wednesday saying the on-campus violence had “pushed the university to the brink.”
- Columbia University president Minouche Shafik was accused of “gross negligence” while testifying before Congress. Shafik refused to say if the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is antisemitic.
- More than 100 Columbia professors signed a letter defending students who support the “military action” by Hamas.
Now the Ivy League school’s board of trustees, too, is in the firing line.
Aside from Shafik and board co-chairs David Greenwald and Claire Shipman — who testified during a congressional hearing in Washington, DC — the 21 trustees have been tight-lipped, only releasing a brief joint statement Wednesday backing the embattled prez.
“The buck stops with the board of trustees,” Rory Lancman, senior counsel for the major Jewish legal advocacy group Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, told The Post this week.
“The board of trustees is the ultimate authority. They can’t hide behind the president.”
Here’s a look at some of the trustees and their backgrounds:
Adam Pritzker
Among the notable Columbia trustees is Adam Pritzker, a scion of the billionaire Pritzker brood.
The 39-year-old is the son of billionaire John Pritzker and the grandson of Jay Pritzker, who built the family empire that includes the chain of Hyatt hotels and a slew of other investments.
His cousins include Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a longtime Democratic activist and bail reform advocate; transgender billionaire Jennifer Pritzker, who’s funneled millions into universities, medical schools, gender clinics and nonprofits in support of “gender-affirming” medical care; and Penny Pritzker, Obama’s former secretary of commerce who is the “senior fellow” or head of the Harvard Corporation — the university’s governing board that hired and then forced out former president Claudine Gay over her handling of campus antisemitism and accusations of plagiarism.
Adam Pritzker is married to Sophie McNally, the daughter of embattled Big Apple restaurateur Keith McNally, who sparked outrage last year among his loyal diners by suggesting Israel “listen to the other side” after the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks.
Since his student days at Columbia, Pritzker has donated roughly $87,000 to Democratic candidates or causes, according to campaign records reviewed by The Post.
In his first year in the Ivy League, Pritzker made a $2,000 donation to John Kerry’s 2004 presidential bid. Since then, he has funneled donations toward the likes of former Mayor Bill de Blasio, Sen. Chuck Schumer and even Georgia’s 2018 gubernatorial candidate, Stacey Abrams.
Pritzker, whose family is Jewish, declined to comment when reached by The Post about the board of trustees’ lack of action.
Mark Gallogly
Mark Gallogly, who is one of two vice-chair trustees, is an uber-wealthy hedge fund mogul who has donated more than $4 million, mostly to the Democratic Party and its candidates, over the years.
This election cycle alone, Gallogly has already dropped an eye-watering $775,000 to Democratic campaigns and causes, according to Federal Election Commission data.
He gave $150,000 to a super PAC called the Biden Action Fund last year, as well as $100,000 to the Democratic National Committee.
Gallogly and his wife, Lise Strickler, also hosted a Biden re-election fundraiser at their Central Park West home in June last year.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the pro-terror protests at colleges across the US:
- Tear gas sprayed at UCLA encampment as cops face off with anti-Israel protesters wielding fire extinguishers
- Stanford submits ‘deeply disturbing’ photo of campus anti-Israel protester wearing Hamas headband to FBI
- Iranian college offers free tuition to US students expelled for participating in anti-Israel protests: ‘Our people’
- MAP: US colleges where students have been arrested over anti-Israel protests
Throughout his decades-long career in investing, Gallogly worked for the Blackstone private equity firm before co-founding Centerbridge Partners in 2005. He co-founded the Three Cairns Group with his wife in 2015, which focuses on climate-related venture capital investing.
The Wall Street veteran has dabbled in politics, too, including a brief stint working for President Biden’s administration when he joined then-climate czar John Kerry’s office in early 2021.
His departure, which came after just three months, came about a month after Business Insider reported he was facing backlash and claims of hypocrisy for playing both sides of the climate crisis.
A probe into his finances found he still had investments in his Centerbridge Partners firm — which had a history of investing in oil and mining — despite his shift to climate-related investments, the outlet reported. Gallogly declined to comment at the time.
Jeh Johnson
Trustee Jeh Johnson, a Columbia Law School grad and seasoned attorney, also has prior links to the White House.
He served as President Barack Obama’s homeland security secretary between 2013 and 2017 and as general counsel of the Department of Defense from 2009 to 2012. Since leaving his political posting, Johnson has repeatedly testified before Congress about homeland security and cybersecurity issues.
Joseph A. Greenaway
Trustee Joseph A. Greenaway Jr. also has ties to both Obama and Clinton.
The Harvard-educated lawyer was appointed as a federal judge in New Jersey by Clinton in 1996 at the age of 38. Then in 2010, Greenaway was appointed by Obama to the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Newark, New Jersey.
David Greenwald
David Greenwald, one of the board’s co-chairs who went before the congressional hearing last week, is chairman emeritus of the Fried Frank law firm.
Greenwald has made at least 54 political donations totaling $62,000 over the years. The donations were all made to Democrats, with one exception: a $2,700 contribution to Republican Jeb Bush in 2015.
He donated $4,300 to Biden’s presidential campaign in 2020, and showered thousands of dollars on Schumer, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Democratic Senate and congressional candidates across the country.
Claire Shipman
His fellow co-chair, Claire Shipman, who is a journalist and New York Times best-selling author, has made nine donations totaling $11,700 to Democratic candidates — including $5,300 to Biden and $2,700 to Hillary Clinton’s failed White House bid in 2016.
Abigail Black Elbaum
Vice chair Abigail Black Elbaum, who heads up Ogden CAP Properties, a real estate firm, also has made a handful of Democratic donations totaling $15,000, including $4,200 to Hillary Clinton in 2005 and $1,000 to Al Gore in 1999.
Meanwhile, other trustee members include Brooklyn-born Wanda Holland Greene, who has been a well-respected educator for four decades; Keith Goggin, a former New York Stock Exchange market maker and specialist; Duchesne Drew, a veteran journalist; Andrew Barth, the retired chairman of a capital market company; and Kikka Hanazawa, a social entrepreneur in the fashion industry.
Former Sen. Al D’Amato (R-NY) said the appointees to Columbia’s governing board are clearly “ultra-liberal” — and it shows in their failure to take back control of the campus as the anti-Israel protests only continue to rage on.
“It’s an ultra-liberal group,” he told The Post this week. “The school is out of control. It’s a disgrace. They’ve destroyed the reputation of a great school.”
“It’s a horror show,” D’Amato added. “They need a new president and [to] clear out the entire board.”
Dov Hikind, who heads Americans Against Antisemitism, also joined the chorus of critics to lash out at the board, insisting it needs to “stop being cowards.”
“The board of trustees at Columbia should stop trying to protect Biden,” Hikind said. “Do the freakin’ right thing!”
The Post reached out to a handful of trustees throughout the week, but the majority declined to comment individually or didn’t respond.
