Bill Ackman has been calling for Harvard to oust its president over its handling of free speech and antisemitism on campus. Photo: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg News Prestigious universities are learning the costs of the big gifts they receive from prominent donors. The strings that fund managers Bill Ackman and Ross Stevens attached to sizable donations to Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania, respectively, show the degree to which wealthy benefactors expect to have an ongoing say in administrative matters.