Billionaire Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, is putting his money where his mouth is.
Columbia University has become ground zero for anti-Semitism after students began occupying a spot on the campus now called the "Gaza Solidarity Encampment."
Last Thursday, university administrators allowed police officers to arrest more than 100 students, which only emboldened the anti-Israel protesters. Now, Columbia faculty members are walking out in solidarity with the protesters, and students at other schools, including Yale and New York University, are protesting. The protests are threatening the safety of Jewish students. One Jewish student at Yale was even stabbed in the eye.
On Monday, Kraft said he will stop supporting Columbia because of the protests.
"I am deeply saddened at the virulent hate that continues to grow on campus and throughout our country," said Kraft, a Columbia alumnus and longtime donor.
"I am no longer confident that Columbia can protect its student and staff and I am not comfortable supporting the university until collective action is taken," he added. "It is my hope that Columbia and its leadership will stand up to this hate by ending these protests immediately and will work to earn back the respect and trust of the many of us who have lost faith in the institution."
Kraft is an observant Orthodox Jew and has donated tens of millions of dollars to Columbia University. The school even named the Jewish student center after him.
Ultimately, Kraft's decision to stop supporting Columbia University will not impact the school, whose endowment is more than $13 billion.
But the growing phenomenon of wealthy donors pulling their financial support from universities is an interesting development in higher education, especially considering academia has almost universally embraced progressivism and a leftist worldview.
"Our profession may be on a suicide mission," said University of Pennsylvania scholar-in-residence Brian Rosenwald on Monday.
"It's like a game of how can we alienate everyone but the far left despite having an exceptionally expensive product that needs broad buy in. I can only shake my head," he observed.
Essentially, American academia is biting the hand that feeds it, which, if gone unchecked, will threaten its livelihood and comfortable existence.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
The new head coach of the New England Patriots suggested on Wednesday that not being racist requires someone to "see color."
At a press conference officially introducing Jerod Mayo as the new head coach of the Patriots franchise, a reporter asked about the significance that Mayo is the first black head coach of the Patriots.
Team owner Robert Kraft responded by describing himself as "really colorblind in terms of ... what I feel like on Sunday when we lose" — referring to his goal of hiring the people he believes will best position the Patriots to win NFL championships — but Mayo admitted that he doesn't feel the same way.
"I do see color because I believe if you don't see color, you can't see racism," he said.
"Whatever happens — black, white, disabled person ... for the most part people are like, when they're young, they kind of make the spot hot. Younger people know what that means. But what I would say is, no, I want you to be able to go up to those people and really understand those people. It goes back to whatever it is: black, white, yellow, it really doesn't matter," he continued.
"But it does matter so we can try to fix the problem that we all know we have," Mayo added without clarifying what "problem" he was referring to.
— (@)
Whether people should "see color" is hotly debated.
Advocates of anti-racism, for example, argue that seeing color is a prerequisite for racial reconciliation. Advocates of color blindness, on the other hand, say no one should be pigeonholed because of or reduced to their skin color.
Still, there is a divergence in perspective even in the small fraternity of NFL head coaches.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Coach Todd Bowles, who is also black, denounced seeing color in October 2022 when asked about Steve Wilks being named, at the time, interim head coach of the Carolina Panthers.
"We don't look at what color we are when we coach against each other. We just know each other," Bowles said. "I have a lot of very good white friends that coach in this league as well, and I don't think it's a big deal as far as us coaching against each other, I think it’s normal. Wilks got an opportunity to do a good job, hopefully he does it.
"And we coach ball, we don't look at color," he declared.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Prosecutors in Florida have dropped the charges against New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft stemming from a 2019 prostitution sting, after an appeals court recently determined law enforcement violated the Constitutional rights of Kraft and others when they took secret recordings in a massage parlor.
Kraft stood accused of visiting the Orchids of Asia Day Spa early last year, and was allegedly caught on video engaging in a sexual act with a woman. He was charged with two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution.
The NFL franchise owner pleaded not guilty to the charges, but issued an apology at the time, saying in part, "I am truly sorry. I know I have hurt and disappointed my family, my close friends, my co-workers, our fans and many others who rightfully hold me to a higher standard."
But The Washington Post reported that "last month, a Florida appeals court ruled that the video of Kraft would be inadmissible at trial, confirming a lower-court ruling that the 'sneak and peak' search warrant used to obtain the footage violated the fourth-amendment rights of Kraft and others caught up in the sting." The outlet noted that 24 other people had been charged in connection to the operation.
With the court tossing out the evidence, prosecutors determined the case against Kraft and others was too weak to move forward.
NBC News reported that a filing by the office of Palm Beach State Attorney Dave Aronberg explains, "Although there was probable cause to make an arrest, the evidence cannot prove all legally required elements of the crime alleged and is insufficient to support a criminal prosecution."
"We are ethically compelled to drop all cases," Aronberg said during an online press conference, according to the Associated Press.
The outlet further reported, "Aronberg said that even though the charges were dropped against the spa's customers, the felony cases against its owner and manager will proceed using evidence such as bank records."
Beth Kudman, the attorney for Orchids of Asia Day Spa owner Hua Zhang reacted to that in an email to the AP, saying, "It is beyond ironic that the State's entire prosecution was allegedly motivated by a desire to protect women from abuse. Yet, even after stating that the state did not have sufficient evidence to prosecute these women without the video evidence, the State persists in proceeding against them, while dismissing the charges against the men."
www.theblaze.com
freebeacon.com