Harvard alum Bill Ackman says board members should be next to go after Claudine Gay departure

Harvard alum Bill Ackman wrote in a lengthy post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that members of the Harvard Corporation, the board for the university, should leave if they supported former President Claudine Gay.

“The Corporation Board should not remain in their seats protected by the unusual governance structure which enabled them to obtain their seats,” said Ackman, billionaire and founder of Pershing Square Capital Management. 

Ackman specifically called on Penny Pritzker, the board chair, and others on the board who supported Gay before her departure, to resign.  

He said those members “orchestrated the strategy to threaten the media, bypassed the process for evaluating plagiarism, and otherwise greatly contributed to the damage that has been done.” 

“Then new Corporation board members should be identified who bring true diversity, viewpoint and otherwise, to the board,” Ackman added.  

Ackman has been vocal in calling for Gay’s removal since her congressional testimony. Gay resigned from her position Tuesday, after her antisemitism testimony and plagiarism controversies.  

In his post, Ackman said he believed diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at Harvard were the cause for its recent troubles, and a new board should reflect differing views on the subject.  

“Today was an important step forward for the University. It is time we restore Veritas to Harvard and again be an exemplar that graduates well-informed, highly-educated leaders of exemplary moral standing and good judgment who can help bring our country together, advance our democracy, and identify the important new discoveries that will help save us from ourselves,” he concluded.