Tech billionaire Elon Musk has once again stirred controversy online, this time over a post alleging discrimination at Harvard University. Musk reacted to a claim that the prestigious Ivy League institution has intentionally sought to reduce the representation of white men in certain professional roles.
The debate was triggered by American activist Christopher F. Rufo, who posted on X, "Harvard actually wrote a plan to increase the proportion of women and minorities in certain occupations to more than 90%. It's not about equal opportunity - it's about punishing whites, men, and, especially, white men."
Musk reposted Rufo's comment with a terse response: "Wow." His one-word reaction was enough to spark a flurry of responses on social media, with several users sharply criticising Harvard.
Some commenters called for the university to lose its accreditation, with one saying, "Their endowment won't matter if they can't matriculate students." Others labelled the alleged policy "discrimination" and called for the institution to be "defunded."
This isn't the first time the Tesla and SpaceX CEO has taken aim at Harvard. In April, he supported a post by former Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy, who criticised the university for rejecting government oversight on curriculum, admissions, and hiring policies.
"Defund Harvard," McNealy had written. Musk responded with a "100%" emoji, signalling his agreement.
The controversy comes amid ongoing scrutiny of elite US universities over issues of academic freedom, diversity policies, and political influence. Harvard, one of the world's oldest and wealthiest academic institutions, has yet to respond to the latest wave of criticism.
The incident also comes in the backdrop of former US President Donald Trump's administration cancelling $2.2 billion in federal funding to Harvard. More recently, eight US federal agencies announced the termination of an additional $430 million in grants to the university.
