Penn’s Board of Trustees — the body charged with stewarding the University’s governance and fiduciary responsibility — donated nearly $3 million to federally registered political committees between 2024-25, overwhelmingly supporting Democratic causes.
The Daily Pennsylvanian analyzed Federal Election Commission data, identifying members of the Board of Trustees who donated to federal political groups from Jan. 1, 2024 to Dec. 31, 2025. The vast majority — roughly 90% — of $2.7 million donated went to Democratic organizations or candidates.
Penn’s Board of Trustees serves “as a bridge between the University and the world,” according to its webpage. The body is responsible for overseeing the “formal institutional governance” and “fiduciary responsibility” of the University.
The board comprises 40 voting members, while additional individuals such as Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Penn President Larry Jameson serve as non-voting members.
Only 13 trustees donated during the two-year time period, which included contributions made for the 2024 presidential election cycle and ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The DP’s analysis accounted for individual contributions to federally registered congressional and presidential campaigns.
A request for comment was left with all voting members of the Board of Trustees.
Over 90% of donated funds went to Democratic-aligned organizations or campaigns, while only 5.5% went to Republicans. 4.5% of donations contributed to other causes, such as non-partisan political action committees and special interest groups.
66.2% of the total donations went to Democratic political action committees — which received a total of nearly $1.8 million alone — followed by contributions to Democratic campaigns and Democratic party committees, which received $506,150 and $136,100 respectively.
Trustees donated most heavily to the Senate Majority PAC, an organization that supports Democratic candidates vying for a spot in the United States Senate. Alongside the Forward Majority Action and House Majority PAC — two committees working to elect Democratic politicians — members also heavily donated to the Democratic Majority for Israel, an advocacy group that supports pro-Israeli interests in Congress.
Of the roughly $600,000 Penn’s trustees contributed to political campaigns, 60.2% of donations went to House campaigns, which received $351,533. House contributions were followed by donations to Senate and presidential candidacies at $221,275 and $10,850, respectively.
Individual Democratic candidates received over half a million dollars in donations from Penn trustees during the time period. Of the candidates, Representative and 1997 College graduate Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) was the largest beneficiary, receiving $30,500. The Republican congressman who received the most dontributions was Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) at $9,900.
Board of Trustees member Robert Stavis — a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners — donated the most out of the body, totaling almost $2 million over the two-year-long time period. 99.17% of Stavis’ donations went to Democratic candidates, PACs, or party organizations.
Penn affiliates have a history of supporting Democratic causes. A previous DP analysis found that — between Jan. 1, 2023 to Sept. 30, 2024 — 99.1% of political donations from Penn faculty went to Democrats.
During the 2020 presidential election cycle, Penn professors donated over $1 million to Democratic candidates — the majority of which went to former Penn professor and President Joe Biden’s campaign.
Senior reporter Arti Jain covers state and local politics and can be reached at jain@thedp.com. At Penn, she studies economics and political science. Follow her on X @arti_jain_.
Staff reporter Ariel Zhang contributes to data and enterprise reporting and can be reached at zhang@thedp.com. At Penn, she studies international relations. Follow her on X @arielchuyan.