Billionaire CEO of the New England Patriots Robert Kraft called for the public to be educated out of apathy Monday as antisemitic protests take over his alma mater, Columbia University.
“Ninety percent of the people in this country are good people. They just have to be educated, and we can’t have them apathetic or misguided. We have to let them know, and they have to stand up and not be silent,” Kraft told Sean Hannity of Fox News.
“It starts with the Jews, but then every group that feels marginalized, whether it be blacks, Asians, Hispanics, gay people, it’ll just really impact the great fabric of this country, where people have freedom to operate and go the way they want, and now, we have hatred and intimidation taking over.”
Kraft’s words come in the wake of his statement that he was no longer comfortable supporting Columbia.
“It was through the full academic scholarship Columbia gave me that I was able to attend college and get my start in life, and for that, I have been tremendously grateful,” the statement read. “However, the school I love so much — the one that welcomed me and provided me with so much opportunity — is no longer an institution I recognize.”
“I am deeply saddened at the virulent hate that continues to grow on campus and throughout our country,” Kraft said. “I am no longer confident that Columbia can protect its students and staff, and I am not comfortable supporting the university until corrective action is taken.”
When Kraft went to Columbia, students and faculty had compassion, but now, the professors are no longer teaching that sentiment, he said.
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Institutions like Columbia need to address this crisis by taking a new look at tenure and providing accountability, according to Kraft, who continues to support The Kraft Center at Columbia and complimented New York City Mayor Eric Adams for his leadership during the protests.
“We have professors who, instead of teaching how to think, they’re trying to tell our young people what they should think,” Kraft said. “I think one of the biggest problems that we have to do something about is, really, tenure and these universities where people can do things and don’t have accountability.”