The American billionaire and activist investor Bill Ackman’s name appeared as a top donor rewarding a Greek-letter fraternity at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill for defending the U.S. national flag, a fundraiser created early Wednesday showed.
“William Ackman” gifted UNC-Chapel Hill’s Pi Kappa Phi fraternity $10,000 for protecting the Star-Spangled Banner from “‘[c]ommie losers” and “the unwashed Marxist horde,” apparent references to pro-Palestinian protesters, according to the GoFundMe fundraiser. Donations have since grown from the initial $15 to $222,978, overshooting its initial goal of $150,573 and nearing its new goal of $225,000 as of the time of this report.
“We’ve got our first sign that @billackman’s philanthropic priorities are changing,” Saurabh Sharma, president of the conservative public policy organization American Moment, tweeted Wednesday appearing to confirm Ackman’s identity.
The Pi Kappa Phi members shielded the U.S. national flag from pro-Palestinian protesters on campus while enduring being pelted by the protesters, according to the fundraiser. Some other fraternities also joined in the effort, according to an update in the fundraiser.
(Thread) Today was a sad yet empowering day at Chapel Hill. When I walked to class, I saw the Palestinian flag raised on our quad flag pole, and was immediately upset at the act that these “protestors” had made. I cannot say I am fully educated on the Israel/Palestine conflict pic.twitter.com/tZrZEOSu8a
— Guillermo Estrada (@estradguillermo) April 30, 2024
The UNC Chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) announced Tuesday that it had replaced the Star-Spangled Banner with the Palestinian flag at Polk Place, a quadrangle named after the 11th U.S. President James K. Polk. The protesters had been rallying for five days, CBS 17 reported.
Police officers and the university’s interim chancellor Lee Roberts brought down the foreign flag and hoisted the Star-Spangled Banner Tuesday, North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson said in a video statement.
“They sent a strong message that that’s not going to be tolerated on that campus and I hope that that type of strong message continues,” Robinson said in his statement.
The Pi Kappa Phi members then shielded the flag after it was hoisted.
UNC Chapel Hill Pi Kappa Phi Men Defending our Flag. pic.twitter.com/iy5AXb2Z3o
— D. Scott @eclipsethis2003 (@eclipsethis2003) May 1, 2024
“That [U.S.] flag will stand here as long as I’m chancellor,” Roberts announced at a press conference aired by WRAL NEWS. Roberts added that the university authorities would keep the students safe from “a very small minority of students who want to disrupt [the rest of the students’] experience” according to the video report. (RELATED: UNC Chancellor Rolls Up With Platoon Of Police And Puts American Flag Back Up On Campus)
The police cleared the Polk Place of the protesters’ encampments, with 36 protesters detained, according to CBS 17. Many of the protesters were not UNC students, Roberts and UNC Provost Chris Clemens said Tuesday in a joint statement.
Elsewhere, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers also restored the U.S. flag in place of the Palestinian flag protesters had hoisted on the City College of New York campus, with NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry describing the officers’ actions “[a]n incredible scene and proud moment” according to a video.
The ongoing pro-Palestinian protests have ripped through no fewer than 30 campuses across the U.S., according to an infographic published by CNN. New York’s Columbia University has been the epicenter of the protests, CNN reported. The (NYPD) arrested 119 protesters at Columbia and 173 others at the City University of New York on Tuesday. New York City Mayor Eric Adams decried the infiltration of “what should have been a peaceful protest” at Columbia by “professional outside agitators.”
