Harvard picks conservative lawyer to serve on powerful board
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Harvard Corp. and Pritzker, have come under intense scrutiny since October 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel, sparking the Jewish state's retaliatory response in Gaza. Critics including investor and alum Bill Ackman have assailed the board for its response to antisemitism on campus, as well as for selecting Claudine Gay as president, who was forced to resign months into her tenure after a plagiarism scandal and her disastrous testimony before Congress.
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More recently the board has drawn supporters and detractors for the school's decision to challenge the Trump administration in court. The government has pulled almost $3 billion in federal funding and tried to ban the school from enrolling foreign students, an order blocked by a federal judge.
The administration has also chided Harvard for its left-leaning bias. Pritzker is a former Commerce Secretary under President Obama and sister to Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. Other members of the 13-member board include KKR & Co. Co-CEO Joseph Bae and Kenneth Frazier, the former chief executive officer of Merck & Co.
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