Wharton alums: Outraged that Trump links them to his 'prejudice and intolerance'

Some 500 alumni and students at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School have signed a letter rebuking Donald Trump for "xenophobia, sexism, racism, and other forms of bigotry that you have actively and implicitly endorsed in your campaign."

Trump, a Wharton graduate and the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has spoken glowingly of his experience at the renowned business school. Two of his children also studied there.

It was not clear to what extent Wharton graduates and students writ large are dismayed by Trump's candidacy and his affiliation with the school.

While the letter had more than 500 signatories as of Saturday, Wharton itself claims to have about 94,000 alumni from 152 countries.

But the bristling letter, which began circulating about a week ago, makes clear that some in the Wharton community find Trump's politics outside the bounds of civil discourse.

"We, proud students, alumni, and faculty of Wharton, are outraged that an affiliation with our school is being used to legitimize prejudice and intolerance," the letter said. "Your insistence on exclusion and scapegoating would be bad for business and bad for the American economy. An intolerant America is a less productive, less innovative, and less competitive America.

"We are dedicated to promoting inclusion not only because diversity and tolerance have been repeatedly proven to be valuable assets to any organization's performance, but also because we believe in mutual respect and human dignity as deeply held values," the letter went on.

The letter-writers said they intended to take no position on the presidential race and that their views did not represent those of Wharton as an institution. But the letter was seized upon by the presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, whose staff distributed it on Saturday.

At various points during the campaign, Trump has called for a temporary ban on Muslim immigrants to the United States, denigrated Mexican immigrants, and promised to build a wall on the southern U.S. border to stop the flow of immigrants, fueling charges of racism.

Trump has denied those allegations of racism, and despite them triumphed in the Republican primaries.

He often has touted his Wharton education - Trump transferred as a junior from Fordham University to Wharton, where he earned an undergraduate degree. But he wrote in his book The Art of the Deal that academic credentials aren't all they are cracked up to be.

"Perhaps the most important thing I learned at Wharton was not to be overly impressed by academic credentials. . . . That degree doesn't prove very much," he wrote.

Wharton listed Trump among its 125 most influential people in a 2007 alumni magazine issue.

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