Alumni of the University of Michigan's business school - named after Stephen Ross - rally against the investor in wake of reports of his ties to Trump

REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

The University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business.

• Stephen Ross - the investor at the center of nationwide boycotts against his portfolio companies Equinox and SoulCycle - has donated more than $378 million to the University of Michigan. 
• The boycotts erupted on Wednesday when The Washington Post reported that Ross would be hosting a fundraising event for President Donald Trump at his home in the Hamptons on Friday, with tickets selling for as much as $250,000.
• Ross' name is ubiquitous on the Ann Arbor campus, where he is the namesake of the Stephen M. Ross School of Business and the Stephen M. Ross Athletic Campus.
• In a letter sent to students on Thursday and obtained by Business Insider, Ross School of Business Dean Scott DeRue spoke out against Ross' actions, writing, "We do not endorse or support this or any fundraising event for political candidates."
• Students and alumni are urging Ross to cancel his Trump fundraiser in an open letter, citing plans to urge university officials to remove Ross's name from all campus buildings and signage. 
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Students and alumni of the University of Michigan are imploring Stephen Ross to cancel his fundraiser for President Donald Trump, or else they will urge officials to remove Ross' name from buildings and signs around the school's Ann Arbor campus. 

Ross - the investor and real-estate mogul mired in controversy after a Washington Post report detailed his plans to host a fundraiser for Trump at his home in the Hamptons on Friday - has donated more than $378 million to his alma mater, the University of Michigan. His name is emblazoned around campus, as the namesake for the Stephen M. Ross School of Business as well as the Stephen M. Ross Athletic Campus, which houses athletes on campus. 

"Stephen Ross is a tremendous supporter of a wide range of programs at the University of Michigan," University of Michigan spokeswoman Kim Broekhuizen wrote in a statement to Business Insider. "His longtime support is most evident at the Ross School of Business and in U-M Athletics."

However, as patrons of Ross-owned companies like Equinox and SoulCycle quit their memberships en masse, students and alumni of the University of Michigan are expressing equal levels of discontent. 

Read more: These 34 companies are funded by Stephen Ross, the Equinox and SoulCycle owner facing controversy due to ties with Trump

In a letter sent to students on Thursday and obtained by Business Insider, Scott DeRue, dean of the Ross School of Business, addressed concern over Ross' ties to Trump, writing the school will "reject all attempts to divide our community" and "rise above hateful rhetoric and live the values we aspire to." 

"We are a community where people of all backgrounds and perspectives are both welcome and encouraged to share their views," DeRue wrote in the email. "We do not endorse or support this or any fundraising event for political candidates."

The debate over Ross now places University of Michigan as the latest school forced to publicly grapple with its handling of controversial donors and notable figures with connections to campus. In 2017, Yale University removed the name of known slavery advocate James C. Calhoun from one of its colleges, after extensive student-led protests. 

Still, in its statement to Business Insider, the University of Michigan maintained that the political affiliations and actions of its donors are not theirs to police. 

"The university has thousands of active donors who have a wide range of political affiliations," Broekhuizen, the University of Michigan spokeswoman, wrote. "Their personal views are their own. What they all share is a love of the University of Michigan. And we thank them for that."

Several current and former students have taken to social media to share concern about Ross' connection to the school. Among them is Kumar Rao, a New York-based lawyer and an alum of the Ross School of Business, who published an open letter to the University of Michigan on Thursday that had more than 500 signatures at the time of publishing, according to Rao. 

In the letter, Rao writes this is an "unprecedented moment, which calls for unprecedented action" and urges Ross to cancel the Trump fundraiser. If Ross fails to do so, Rao says in his letter he will ask the university's administration to remove Ross' name from campus buildings and "solicit student and alumni input into whether and how to reconsider his philanthropic contributions to the University."

"Stephen Ross is not simply an average voter or supporter. His support of Trump, without regard to Trump's racist ideology and policy, cannot be ignored," the letter reads. 

In an interview with Business Insider, Rao said he was inspired to draft the letter after talking with friends and fellow alumni who were "angry and outraged" over learning of Ross' support of Trump. 

"That Stephen Ross, as a fellow Michigan alumni and a proud supporter of the university, is putting his own resources toward re-electing Trump and aligning with what's been transpiring was a real shock to many of us," Rao said. "His support of Trump is not just a vote, it's bankrolling literally millions of dollars toward his campaign and toward all the infrastructure that could get Trump re-elected."

Rao said he is optimistic that in the intervening hours before Ross' fundraiser, slated for Friday night, he could "do the right thing" and opt to cancel the event. 

"The core of this letter, after speaking to many people who have signed it, is less anger but more disappointment and shame because we know that Stephen Ross has been a friend and a beneficiary of the university," he said. 

Editor's note: The author of this post is an alumna of the University of Michigan's Ford School of Public Policy.