Billionaire trader Jeff Yass is donating $100 million to the University of Austin (UATX), a new higher education venture founded by journalist Bari Weiss and venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The school is seen by MAGA supporters as a response to what they call “woke” culture at elite universities. It promotes itself as a space for the “fearless pursuit of truth.”
Yass is the co-founder of the trading firm Susquehanna International Group and a major donor to Republican causes. He said he was “really impressed by what they have done.”
He added that he supports a separation between education and government and wants to ease the financial strain on parents who save for years to send their children to college.
UATX was founded in 2021 and has around 150 students in its first two years. The university does not charge tuition, but the students pay for housing, meals and books.
The $100 million gift from Yass will launch a new fund aimed at raising $300 million in total, said UATX president Carlos Carvalho, a former professor at the University of Texas at Austin. He expects the student body to grow to between 400 and 500 in the coming years.
The school has drawn backing from several wealthy figures, including real-estate developer Harlan Crow and investor Len Blavatnik. WSJ reported last year that it had already raised $200 million, including an earlier $35 million donation from Yass.
Weiss is now the editor in chief of CBS News and remains a trustee at the university. “A politics of censoriousness, forced conformity and ideological obedience has taken hold of our institutions,” she said in a UATX video earlier this year.
Who is Bari Weiss?
Bari Weiss built her reputation as a sharp, independent journalist who often challenged mainstream liberal views. She left The New York Times after accusing it of creating a hostile environment for open debate, saying the newsroom had become driven by fear of online backlash. Weiss has described herself as a liberal who believes in free speech and open inquiry, not ideological purity. Her critics on the left call her reactionary, while her supporters see her as one of the few willing to question orthodoxy.
What is 'woke culture' to MAGA
Supporters of the MAGA movement see “woke culture” as a form of political correctness that stifles free expression and enforces ideological conformity. They argue that it promotes identity politics and divides people by race, gender and ideology rather than uniting them around shared values. To them, “wokeness” has spread through universities, media and corporations, creating an environment where dissenting or conservative views are punished. Many MAGA-aligned figures believe this culture undermines traditional American principles such as merit, free speech and individual responsibility.
The school is seen by MAGA supporters as a response to what they call “woke” culture at elite universities. It promotes itself as a space for the “fearless pursuit of truth.”
Yass is the co-founder of the trading firm Susquehanna International Group and a major donor to Republican causes. He said he was “really impressed by what they have done.”
He added that he supports a separation between education and government and wants to ease the financial strain on parents who save for years to send their children to college.
UATX was founded in 2021 and has around 150 students in its first two years. The university does not charge tuition, but the students pay for housing, meals and books.
The $100 million gift from Yass will launch a new fund aimed at raising $300 million in total, said UATX president Carlos Carvalho, a former professor at the University of Texas at Austin. He expects the student body to grow to between 400 and 500 in the coming years.
The school has drawn backing from several wealthy figures, including real-estate developer Harlan Crow and investor Len Blavatnik. WSJ reported last year that it had already raised $200 million, including an earlier $35 million donation from Yass.
Weiss is now the editor in chief of CBS News and remains a trustee at the university. “A politics of censoriousness, forced conformity and ideological obedience has taken hold of our institutions,” she said in a UATX video earlier this year.
Who is Bari Weiss?
Bari Weiss built her reputation as a sharp, independent journalist who often challenged mainstream liberal views. She left The New York Times after accusing it of creating a hostile environment for open debate, saying the newsroom had become driven by fear of online backlash. Weiss has described herself as a liberal who believes in free speech and open inquiry, not ideological purity. Her critics on the left call her reactionary, while her supporters see her as one of the few willing to question orthodoxy.
What is 'woke culture' to MAGA
Supporters of the MAGA movement see “woke culture” as a form of political correctness that stifles free expression and enforces ideological conformity. They argue that it promotes identity politics and divides people by race, gender and ideology rather than uniting them around shared values. To them, “wokeness” has spread through universities, media and corporations, creating an environment where dissenting or conservative views are punished. Many MAGA-aligned figures believe this culture undermines traditional American principles such as merit, free speech and individual responsibility.
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