A major Harvard donor has halted financial support for the university and accused elite US colleges of producing “whiny snowflakes” instead of future leaders.

Ken Griffin, an alumnus who donated $300 million (£237 million) to Harvard last year, is the latest in a string of wealthy donors who have halted donations amid uproar over the university’s handling of anti-Semitism on campus after the Oct 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

Mr Griffin announced he was pausing support for Harvard unless it makes significant changes.

“I’m not interested in supporting the institution,” Mr Griffin said of Harvard at a conference in Miami on Tuesday.

The university, he said, must make clear that it will “resume its role of educating young American men and women to be leaders and problem solvers”.

According to Bloomberg, he accused leading US colleges of producing “whiny snowflakes” instead of future statesmen.

Harvard is still struggling to resolve tensions even after Claudine Gay, its former president, resigned this month amid an onslaught of criticism over her response to anti-Semitism, as well as accusations of plagiarism in her scholarship.

The school has also come under intense scrutiny from lawmakers, students and alumni. Two congressional committees have begun investigations, with one of them criticising Harvard last week for providing “woefully inadequate” responses to its questions. 

The US education department is conducting its own probe of anti-Semitism at Harvard and other schools.

Mr Griffin, the founder and CEO of hedge fund firm Citadel with personal net worth valued at $36.8 billion, said he was concerned after watching Ms Gay testify before Congress on Dec 5.

She and two other university presidents declined to give a definitive “yes” or “no” answer to a question on whether calling for the genocide of Jews would violate their schools’ code of conduct on bullying and harassment, saying it would have to be balanced against free-speech protections.

His decision to withhold support will deepen the financial pain for Harvard. Len Blavatnik, billionaire and Harvard alumnus, whose family foundation has given at least $270 million to Harvard, paused donations last month.

Donors such as Idan Ofer and Leslie Wexner had earlier halted support, while Mitt Romney, the US senator, accused the university of ignoring the safety of Jewish students.

Earlier on Tuesday, Lawrence Summers, a former Harvard president, took aim at its leaders, describing the scandal over the university’s handling of anti-Semitism as the “worst stretch” in its 387-year history.

“My confidence in Harvard leadership’s ability and will to confront antisemitism and the demonisation of Israel continues to decline,” Mr Summers wrote on Twitter.

“Unfortunately, it is becoming ever clearer why Harvard ranks first on anti-Semitism, even as it ranks last on upholding free speech.

“I cannot think of a worse stretch in Harvard history than the last few months,” he added.