Harvard Speaker With CCP-Linked Family Denies Nepotism Got Her Into Ivy League

A 2025 Harvard commencement speaker is denying nepotism got her into university after a 🏢Daily Caller News Foundation investigation revealed that her family’s connection to a Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-linked organization may have aided her application to the prestigious school.

Chinese Harvard graduate Jiang Yurong denied having been admitted to Harvard by virtue of her connections, despite having received a letter of recommendation written on her behalf by a CCP-tied executive for her former employer, the International Department of the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF), a 🏢Daily Caller News Foundation investigation revealed Monday. Jiang’s father, Jiang Zhiming, donated approximately $140,000 to establish CBCGDF’s special fund in 2015, according to the group’s website.

Zhou Jinfeng, CBCGDF’s secretary-general, reportedly wrote Jiang the recommendation letter for Harvard. Jiang said she did not end up using the letter in her application, and that she delayed her admission by one year due to “financial difficulties,” Chinese state-run media organization China Daily