EDITORS' CORNER
OPINION
A resolution condemning Yale University for facilitating a donation to a group that supports Israeli Defense Forces members passed on the second try.
The resolution first failed on a 12-12 vote last month, as previously reported by The College Fix. Members were asked to condemn a $1 million donation made to Friends of the IDF that came via a donor-advised fund at Yale.
This means a donor gave money to Yale with the understanding a certain percentage of the endowment returns would go to a charity of his or her choosing. Friends of the IDF provides money to support the mental health and other medical needs of Israeli soldiers.
The college council took another vote recently and passed the resolution, reportedly after bullying opponents into submission.
“In the two weeks between the votes, a YCC senator showed me several harassing messages he received that shamed him for voting ‘no,’” Yale student Etyan Israel alleged in the Yale Daily News. “Those messages might have been enough to make the average person vote ‘yes’… That’s not moral leadership; it’s moral coercion.”
Israel, the student, warned that the college council set itself on a “slippery slope” by voting to condemn this donation. He also said the resolution is meaningless, since future donors could just reroute their money to their favored nonprofits.
“Furthermore, as one senator noted, condemning this donation implies that every future gift not condemned is tacitly approved,” the student wrote. “Though, predictably, only those involving [the country of] Israel seem to invite debate.”
The student writer is correct in that the resolution only serves to create more problems on campus and create another controversy surrounding Israel and Palestine. The conflict in the Middle East cannot be solved in New Haven, however, but only by the people themselves, along with outside help like the White House.
From a financial standpoint, irritating supporters who give to Yale’s donor-advised fund is an ill-fated idea. The minimum gift to participate in the donor-advised fund is $5 million, meaning this is a high-dollar donor who participated.
Yale College Council probably cannot bully a wealthy donor into changing his mind on foreign policy – but it can show him students are ungrateful for his support and push him away from subsidizing their tuition.
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