The President of the University of Pennsylvania, Liz Magill has resigned. This comes just days after her controversial testimony at a congressional hearing about the rise in antisemitism on campuses.
Magill issued a statement about her resignation. She stated, “It has been my privilege to serve as President of this remarkable institution. It has been an honour to work with our faculty, students, staff, alumni, and community members to advance Penn’s vital missions.”
According to the website of the University of Pennsylvania, Magill has “voluntarily” tendered her resignation. She will remain a tenured faculty member at the law college, Penn Carey Law.
Meanwhile, Magill will stay on until an interim president is appointed.
Netizens have welcomed the development. X, formerly Twitter, user Dr. Phil, who boasts a 1.4 million following on the social media platform said he was relieved that Magill has resigned.
I am relieved that Liz Magill resigned as President of @Penn. This week, I viewed a highly restricted @IDF video of the Oct 7 Hamas massacre. I was sickened by video images I can never "unsee" and appalled by university presidents, like Liz Magill, who are OK with calls for… pic.twitter.com/nC15BMqWtG
— Dr. Phil (@DrPhil) December 9, 2023
“I am relieved that Liz Magill resigned as President of @Penn. This week, I viewed a highly restricted @IDF video of the Oct 7 Hamas massacre. I was sickened by video images I can never “unsee” and appalled by university presidents, like Liz Magill, who are OK with calls for Jewish genocide on their campuses. @MeritStMedia,” he wrote.
Another X user named Libs of TikTok with 2.7 million followers pointed out how Magill was smirking while she answered during the Congressional hearing.
Liz Magill, President of @Penn has resigned. This was her smirking as she explained that calling for the g*noc*de of Jews on campus doesn’t violate any policies. pic.twitter.com/TKstRdIJ0u
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 9, 2023
The user wrote, “Liz Magill, President of @Penn has resigned. This was her smirking as she explained that calling for the g*noc*de of Jews on campus doesn’t violate any policies.”
Calls were being made for Liz Magill’s resignation after her shocking testimony at the congressional hearing about antisemitism on campus which drew widespread condemnation.
On 5th December, the Presidents of Harvard, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania were confronted by Congresswoman Elise Stefanik during the hearing over the issue of rising cases of antisemitism on their campuses.
During the hearing, the Presidents of all three universities including Liz Magill refused to condemn the calls for the genocide of Jews on their campuses as bullying and harassment, when asked to offer a simple “yes” or “no” answer on whether advocating for the murder of Jews would violate the University’s bullying and harassment policies.
Congresswoman Stefanik asked, “Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Penn’s rules or code of conduct? Yes or no?” To this, Magill replied with a smirk that raised eyebrows, “If the speech turns into conduct, it can be harassment.” Magill maintained that if antisemitic speech becomes conduct, that is, committed in action, only then does it amount to harassment.
The White House also rebuked the presidents of the universities. White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said, “It’s unbelievable that this needs to be said: calls for genocide are monstrous and antithetical to everything we represent as a country. Any statements that advocate for the systematic murder of Jews are dangerous and revolting — and we should all stand firmly against them, on the side of human dignity and the most basic values that unite us as Americans.”
On 7th December, Magill issued a clarification saying that her statement was focused on the University’s long-standing policies “aligned with the US Constitution which say that speech alone is not punishable”.
She stated, “In that moment, I was focused on our University’s long-standing policies, aligned with the US Constitution, which say that speech alone is not punishable. I was not focused on, but I should have been, the irrefutable fact that a call for genocide of Jewish people is a call for some of the most terrible violence human beings can perpetrate. It’s evil plain and simple. I want to be clear, the call for genocide of Jewish people is threatening, deeply so. It is intentionally meant to terrify people who have been subjected to pogroms and hatred for centuries and were the victims of mass genocide in the Holocaust. In my view, it would be harassment or intimidation.”
Calls for Presidents of Harvard and MIT universities are also being made on social media.
University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill was forced to step down.
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) December 9, 2023
She didn’t really say anything different than the President of Harvard, Claudine Gay
Claudine must also go pic.twitter.com/nRdTya6uWc
The credibility of Ivy League institutions in the United States has come into question following the rise in antisemitic demonstrations, actions and even violence going unabated on their campuses in light of the Israel-Hamas war.
