Two months after Robert Kraft cut financial ties with his alma mater, Columbia University, “over the treatment of Jewish students and faculty during pro-Palestinian protests at the campus,” the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots and founder of the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism announced on Tuesday that he would direct $1 million to fund a new program for students transferring to Yeshiva University to seek relief from the surge of antisemitism flooding other universities.

“I am honored to establish the Blue Square Scholars program at Yeshiva University in order to give students a welcoming place to further their education and grow into leaders who will serve as advocates for unity and respect and will push back on all hate,” Kraft said in a statement. “At a time where hate has been unleashed across our universities, Jewish students are feeling isolated and unsafe. Yeshiva is providing a safe haven for these students and I look forward to seeing them thrive in an academic environment where they could live and study free of fear for being who they are.” 

According to Yeshiva University, the Blue Square Scholars program will help the school “accommodate transferring students who are switching to YU” and “help provide the necessary infrastructure to accommodate the best and the brightest students who are rooted in the university’s values of compassion and respect for all.” 

Kraft’s donation to Yeshiva University is the latest case of an Ivy League alum opting to support a Jewish or Israeli institution instead of their alma mater. Earlier this month, an anonymous Columbia University alumnus donated $260 million to Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, and University of Pennsylvania graduate David Magerman pledged $1 million to the Jerusalem College of Technology after he too cut ties with his alma mater over its handling of campus antisemitism.

In light of rising antisemitism on college campuses nationwide since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel, YU, the flagship Modern Orthodox university, has marketed itself as a safe alternative. In April, when illegal — and sometimes violent — anti-Israel encampments gripped dozens of universities, Yeshiva University reopened its admissions portal for undergraduate applicants. In May, the New York City school said it hit a record-high enrollment, with transfer applications up 53% over the prior year.

Rabbi Ari Berman, the university’s president, said in a statement that Kraft “sets the standard for impactful leadership in this country and this program will support top tier students who will follow his example to become the leaders of tomorrow.”

In April, Kraft withdrew his financial support from Columbia University, where he had contributed $3 million towards construction of what would become the Kraft Center for Jewish Student Life in 2000 — in addition to millions of dollars throughout the last two decades. The 1963 Columbia graduate told Politico that the “turning point” for him was seeing that Israeli professor Shai Davidai, who has emerged as an at-times controversial critic of Columbia’s administration, “had his access to campus revoked as he attempted to join a counter-protest.”Since Oct. 7, the FCAS has spent millions of dollars aimed at turning the blue square emoji into the symbol for Jewish solidarity and opposition to hatred against Jewish people – including the roll out of a $25 million ad campaign in March, which came on the heels of the group’s $7 million 30-second Super Bowl ad.