The Daily Pennsylvanian analyzed political donations from Penn donors.
Credit: Jesse ZhangPenn alumni and affiliates have consistently made their presence felt in politics. In addition to having strong ties with both major party nominees in the 2024 presidential election, Penn graduates consistently make prominent showings on yearly rankings of the wealthiest Americans — some of whom have made significant donations to both Penn and political causes.
However, the University's response to the Palestine Writes Literature Festival, antisemitic incidents on campus, and the Israel-Hamas war triggered an unprecedented donor fallout in the fall 2023 semester, during which Penn lost several of its most high-profile financial contributors. Some of these donors went on to fundraise for Republicans who have scrutinized the University in Congress.
The Daily Pennsylvanian looked at the political contributions and affiliations of these former big-ticket donors to the University, and spoke with multiple about their current stances.
Varied support for Trump
Many of the donors who halted their funding were affiliated with the Republican Party or had previously expressed support for 1968 Wharton graduate and former President Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee in the 2024 presidential election. However, as controversies surrounding Trump and concerns over his administration's direction persist — especially in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection and a growing stream of legal issues — some former donors have publicly distanced themselves from him.
1987 College graduate Jon Huntsman Jr. — a former Republican Gov. of Utah and United States ambassador — has had a significant presence at Penn as a donor and former trustee. The Huntsman Foundation provided regular contributions to the University until Huntsman wrote to former Penn President Liz Magill that the foundation would "close its checkbook" to an "almost unrecognizable" University in October 2023.
As a member of the Republican Party, Huntsman has supported GOP candidates and causes, including financial contributions to political action committees and candidates.
However, Huntsman’s relationship with the Trump administration has been complex. Two years after he accepted Trump’s nomination as the ambassador to Russia in 2017, he resigned, citing differences with the administration. Huntsman also criticized Trump for prioritizing his own self-interests in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol siege.
During the 2016 presidential election, Huntsman donated $100,000 to Right to Rise USA PAC, a political action committee supporting the campaign for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
In a statement to the DP, Huntsman said that he has “never contributed” to Trump’s campaign. He did not respond a request for comment on who he will be supporting in the upcoming election.
1984 Wharton graduate and Wharton Board of Advisors Chair Marc Rowan, who was among the most vocal donors who called for the resignation of Penn’s leaders for their response to the Palestine Writes Literature Festival and Hamas's attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, did not respond to the DP's request for comment. However, he expressed disappointment towards both candidates in the 2024 presidential election in a December 2023 interview with Bloomberg.
“It’s hard to believe with 350 million people in this country that we’re down to two,” Rowan said to Bloomberg. “Personally, I’m disappointed.”
In his Bloomberg interview, Rowan said that the issue of antisemitism on college campuses was not a factor in his decision to withhold support for either candidate.
In 2020, Rowan made a $1 million donation to Trump Victory, a political action committee dedicated to raising funds for Trump and the Republican Party. Public records indicate that Rowan has financially supported both Republican and Democratic candidates and causes since then.
1965 Wharton graduate Ronald Lauder has donated extensively to the GOP and conservative causes throughout his career. Lauder’s ties to Trump go back several decades, before the two assumed leadership roles in their respective family businesses.
In 2017, Trump publicly thanked Lauder as a friend during a speech at the World Jewish Congress — an organization of which Lauder is the president. In a statement from 2018, he praised Trump’s “incredible insight and intelligence.”
According to Forbes, Lauder contributed $100,000 to the Trump Victory joint fundraising committee in 2017 and 2019. Since then, he has refrained from contributing to Trump’s campaign, the Republican National Committee, or affiliated causes.
Lauder, who has given extensively to Penn in the past, also halted his donations to the University in October 2023. He did not respond to the DP’s request for comment on who he will be supporting in the upcoming election.
Issue voting and nonpartisanship
Some former donors of the University have indicated that their support is primarily influenced by specific political issues.
1991 Wharton graduate Ross Stevens, the founding donor of the Stevens Center for Innovation in Finance, will not be supporting Trump, a source familiar told the DP. The source said that he does not make contributions based on partisanship, and his political contributions are towards free-market causes.
Daniel Lowy, a 2013 Wharton MBA graduate and sponsor of the Wharton Global Forum in Sydney, said that he would not donate to either Trump or President Joe Biden's campaigns.
“I think [Trump and Biden] are both good for Israel. I think both parties say that. I think both presidential candidates say that,” Lowy told the DP. “I just want them to be supportive of Israel. I don’t really care about anything else.”
He said that his political contributions are primarily directed at state and local causes, and said that he believed donating to presidential campaigns is “a waste of money.”
A spokesperson for 1988 Wharton and Engineering graduate Clifford Asness wrote in a statement to the DP that Asness has not — and will not be — contributing directly or indirectly to Trump.
Asness, a self-identified “life-long libertarian,” was a staunch supporter of former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, contributing generously to her campaign during her run for office — which ended shortly after the Super Tuesday primaries in March. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Asness defended his fundraising efforts for Haley after Trump expressed his commitment to exclude her supporters from the “MAGA camp.”
Opposition to Trump
However, not all of Penn’s former donors and wealthy alumni have a history of supporting Trump.
1983 College graduate David Abrams, who has donated to the School of Arts and Sciences, vehemently expressed his opposition to Trump in the upcoming election.
“I have not and will not — ever — support Donald Trump for president of the United States or dogcatcher of the smallest municipality anywhere on the planet,” Abrams wrote in a statement to the DP.
1990 College and Engineering graduate David Magerman, who donated $5 million to the University in 2012, wrote to the DP that he would not be supporting either candidate in the upcoming election.
In a 2017 New Yorker article, Magerman was cited as a “Democrat who is a strong supporter of Jewish causes.” He halted his donations on Oct. 15, 2023, and said that he was "deeply ashamed" of his connection to the University in a letter to Magill and former Penn Board of Trustees Chair Scott Bok.
1992 Wharton graduate and Wharton Board of Advisors member Jacqueline Reses, who made a $5 million donation in 2020 to Penn, wrote simply, “I’m a Biden supporter” in a statement to the DP. She said to the DP in September 2023 that the University's response to the Palestine Writes festival was "incredibly disappointing."
Biden and Trump's Penn connections
Both Trump and Biden — and their families — are deeply connected to Penn.
Three of Trump's children attended Penn — most recently, his daughter Tiffany graduated from the College in 2016. As the only Penn graduate to become president, Trump frequently touted his Wharton degree, however, the University rarely reciprocated this acknowledgment.
Following the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection, Penn alumni pressured the University to revoke his degree, citing its failure to condemn his actions. Some expressed their intentions to withhold donations to the University until Penn takes stronger action.
On the Democratic ticket, President Joe Biden — a former Benjamin Franklin Professor of Presidential Practice — holds deep connections to the university despite not being an alumnus. Two of his children and three of his grandchildren have attended Penn, and the DP recently reported on his communications with Penn administrators about a grandchild's application to Penn.
Prior to his presidency, Biden launched the Penn Biden Center, a think tank overseen by his future Secretary of State Antony Blinken from 2017 to 2019. During this time, he also fostered a strong bond with former Penn President Amy Gutmann, whom he later appointed as ambassador to Germany.
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