- Billionaire Robert Kraft has donated $1 million to a new program at Yeshiva University.
- The university said the program “will help accommodate Jewish transfer students.”
- Craft withdrew her support from Columbia University following campus protests against the war between Israel and Hamas.
Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots, donated $1 million to Yeshiva University to establish a program for Jewish transfer students after withdrawing his support from Columbia University.
Yeshiva University, a private Orthodox Jewish university in New York City, said in a press release that the Blue Square Scholars program will “help the university accommodate students who transfer to Yeshiva University in search of a quality education and nurturing campus environment.”
The university previously said enrolment had increased since the start of the Gaza conflict, which has divided universities across the country.
“Following the incident on October 7, the University of Utah has taken the lead in combating rising anti-Semitism on college campuses across the nation and is opening its doors to transfer students who feel unsafe on their current campus,” the university said in a statement.
According to a press release, Kraft's donation will support the university's efforts to support Jewish students in combating anti-Semitism. Kraft established the foundation. To combat anti-Semitism in 2019.
“I am honored to establish the Blue Square Scholars Program at Yeshiva University to provide a space for students to further their education and develop into leaders who stand against hate of all kinds as advocates for unity and respect,” Craft said in a statement.
Representatives for Yeshiva University and Kraft did not respond to Business Insider's requests for comment.
Kraft's $1 million donation comes two months after she severed ties with her alma mater, Columbia University.
Craft was a trusted megadonor to Columbia, but criticized the school after protests erupted on campus in April, when pro-Palestinian supporters demonstrated to call for a ceasefire and demand that the university divest from Israel and companies that do business there.
In a full-page ad in May, Kraft accused elite universities of inciting “hatred” on their campuses. “The leaders and faculty of many of our nation's leading educational institutions have let their students down,” she wrote.
Other universities, such as Harvard, have also faced the wrath of Jewish megadonors over student protests against the war.
Meanwhile, the war has also led to an increase in Islamophobia on university campuses.
Despite the criticism, Kraft told CNN she will continue to support the Kraft Center for Jewish Student Life at Columbia University.
