The president of the University of Pennsylvania resigned in response to pressure from supporters and backlash over her testimony during a congressional hearing, during which she was repeatedly questioned and was unable to state that her demands for the genocide of Jews on campus would be in violation of the university’s behavior policy.
Liz Magill, the Ivy League school’s president for the past two years, announced her resignation late on Saturday afternoon. According to the statement, Magill will continue to teach at the university’s Carey Law School with tenure.
Following Magill’s appearance in a U.S. court on Tuesday, calls for his resignation erupted. She appeared before the House committee investigating antisemitism on college campuses alongside the presidents of MIT and Harvard.
Amid growing concerns over antisemitism around the world and the aftermath of Israel’s escalating war in Gaza, which has drawn increased criticism for the growing number of Palestinian casualties, universities across the United States have been accused of failing to protect Jewish students.
The committee called on the three presidents to respond to those charges. However, opponents responded angrily to their lawyerly responses, focusing on a line of questioning from Republican Representative Elise Stefanik of New York, who repeatedly asked whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” would be a violation of Penn’s code of conduct.
When Stefanik pressed Magill further, she said, “If the speech turns into conduct, it can be harassment, yes. It is a context-dependent decision, congresswoman.”
The White House, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Congressmen, and funders were among the many who voiced their criticism. Because of the university’s “stance on antisemitism on campus,” one donor, Ross Stevens, threatened to withhold a $100 million gift until Magill was replaced.
A day later, in response to the criticism, Magill made a video statement stating that she would classify a call for the annihilation of Jews as harassment or intimidation and that Penn has to “clarify and evaluate” its rules.
This fall, Magill faced criticism from certain benefactors and former students for the way the institution handled several alleged instances of antisemitism.
This includes giving permission for a September literary arts event, including speakers whose previous criticism of Israel had sparked charges of antisemitism to take place on its campus.
A former U.S. Magill, 57, a law clerk for the Supreme Court, is the daughter of a retired federal judge. Prior to being appointed as Penn’s ninth president last year, she held positions as dean of Stanford University’s law school and senior administrator at the University of Virginia.
The governor of New York made a demand earlier on Saturday for the state’s educational institutions to take immediate action in response to incidents of antisemitism and what she called “calls for genocide” on campus.
Governor Kathy Hochul announced in a letter to presidents of colleges and universities that her government will prosecute anyone who violates the state’s human rights law and report anyone who violates federal civil rights law to American authorities.
Following her conversation with the chancellors of the public college systems at State University of New York and City University of New York, Hochul said she had confirmation “that calling for genocide of any group” or tolerating antisemitism violates codes of conduct on their campuses “and would lead to swift disciplinary action.”
The letter from the governor doesn’t mention any particular instances. An email requesting a comment was not immediately answered by her office.
In recent months, a common slogan at pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Penn and other institutions has been misinterpreted as advocating for “Jewish genocide.”
Pro-Palestinian protests often feature the cry, “Israel, we charge you with genocide,” according to experts and supporters. Supporters of both Judaism and Palestine agree that demonstrators aren’t chanting, “We want Jewish genocide.”
On Tuesday, members of the House of Representatives questioned the presidents of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology over the extent to which their administrations are addressing the antisemitic incidents that have occurred on their campuses during the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
The three presidents were summoned to speak, according to Republican Representative Virginia Foxx, because “we heard in particular that the most egregious situations have occurred on these campuses.”
Harvard University President Claudine Gay was subjected to unusually challenging questions from congressional Republicans. One particularly heated interaction involved Representative Elise Stefanik, who called for Gay’s resignation.
Gay was questioned by Stefanik, a Harvard alumna, about whether the school would refuse to admit applicants who endorse the homicidal ideologies of Hamas.
Reversing university policy, Gay pushed back, stating that she would not commit to punishing students merely for expressing their opinions, even if she finds them “personally abhorrent.”
Republican legislators linked progressivism to antisemitism in higher education and frequently attacked it.
The presidents of the three universities discussed how they plan to protect students and promote free and open discussion about the Israel-Hamas conflict.
