Many of you may recall Jon Huntsman Jr. since he has been in American politics for most of his life. He has served as the Governor of Utah and as our ambassador to multiple nations and he even ran for President in 2012. One other thing about him that may be slightly less well-known is that he is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. He’s never forgotten his alma mater and he and his family have donated millions of dollars to UPenn over the years. But that came to an end this week. Huntsman observed the pro-Hamas demonstrations taking place on his old campus and after careful consideration, he sent a letter to the current president of the university informing her that his “checkbook is closed” and they will receive no further donations from him. (The Daily Pennsylvanian)

1987 College graduate Jon Huntsman Jr. told Penn President Liz Magill that his family will stop donating to Penn, stripping the University of a longtime donor amid backlash from influential trustees and alumni.

In an email to Magill obtained by The Daily Pennsylvanian, Huntsman — a former University trustee, governor of Utah, and United States ambassador — said that the Huntsman Foundation will “close its checkbook” on future donations to Penn. Huntsman, whose family has donated tens of millions to Penn over the course of three generations, wrote that the University had become “almost unrecognizable” due to administrators’ response to antisemitism.

“Moral relativism has fueled the university’s race to the bottom and sadly now has reached a point where remaining impartial is no longer an option,” he wrote to Magill after a meeting of the Board of Trustees on Friday night.

There’s a financial “ouch” for you. Huntsman and his father jointly funded the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business initially with a $10 million grant. In 1998 the Huntsman family gifted the university with another $40 million, the largest single donation ever given to a business school. But in his letter, Huntsman described the universities response to not only the horrors in Israel but the protests on campus as being “a new low.”  He said, “Silence is antisemitism, and antisemitism is hate, the very thing higher ed was built to obviate.”

Huntsman wasn’t the only one. On Friday, university trustee Vahan Gureghian announced his resignation in protest of University leadership. He was also a previously generous donor to the university’s coffers. Marc Rowan, the chairman of the Wharton School’s Board of Advisors, called on university president Liz Magill to step down because of the school’s pathetic response to the terror attacks.

So how is the school responding? They really aren’t. To be clear, Magill issued some statements of condemnation against Hamas and antisemitism in general, but she and the board have been almost entirely silent about the actions of the students and faculty at their own university. That’s where the pushback is coming from. Still, the school issued a statement saying that they have “full confidence” in Magill’s leadership.

Perhaps this is the only way that things gradually begin to change on America’s college campuses. Reason has left the building, but they can still sometimes be moved if you hit them in the wallet. That’s apparently all they understand. It worked when Harvard students immediately retreated from their pro-Hamas stance when they learned they might not get jobs on Wall Street after graduating. And what worked at Harvard could well work at UPenn. These are not “principles” that these people hold. They are memes which are believed to carry weight in popular culture. Hit them in the wallet and they tend to fold like the beach chairs that Joe Biden is unable to navigate. Here’s a salute to Jon Huntsman Jr. Show them how it’s done, sir.