University of Pennsylvania president quits after uproar over antisemitism response

University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill resigned on Saturday after facing widespread criticism of her stance on antisemitism on campus.

Magill, Harvard University President Claudine Gay and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) President Sally Kornbluth came under heavy criticism after appearing before a US House of Representatives committee on Tuesday to testify about anti-Semitism on university campuses.

Asked whether calling for the genocide of Jews would breach university policy on bullying and harassment, the three university heads declined to give a definitive “yes” or “no” answer, saying they were committed to free expression and that it would depend on the context, such as whether the speech was targeted at individuals.

Informing about Magill’s decision, Scott Bok, chair of the Philadelphia-based university’s board of trustees, said, in a statement, “I write to share that President Liz Magill has voluntarily tendered her resignation as President of the University of Pennsylvania.”

Magill will remain a tenured faculty member at the university’s law school, Bok said.

Following her criticism, Magill released a video message on Wednesday, in which she expressed regret and promised to review the university’s code of conduct.

Notably, the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas launched an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, killing over 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages. Later, Israel retaliated with intense bombardment and a ground invasion of Gaza which resulted in the death of more than 15,000 people.

The anti-Israel protests on campuses, which witnessed anti-Semitic chants too, started soon after the October 7 attacks and the counterstrikes.

According to the news agency Reuters, antisemitism and Islamophobia have risen sharply in the United States and elsewhere since October.

Reuters, citing a report from the Anti-Defamation League, highlighted that antisemitic incidents in the United States rose by nearly 400 per cent in the two weeks after the Hamas attack on Israel.

Meanwhile, Republican Representative Elise Stefanik, who led Tuesday’s questioning, welcomed the resignation of Magill and also called for the resignation of MIT and Harvard University presidents.

In a post on X, she posted, “One down. Two to go. This is only the very beginning of addressing the pervasive rot of antisemitism that has destroyed the most “prestigious” higher education institutions in America. This forced resignation of the President of University of Pennsylvania is the bare minimum of what is required.”

“These universities can anticipate a robust and comprehensive Congressional investigation of all facets of their institutions negligent perpetration of antisemitism including administrative, faculty, and overall leadership and governance. Harvard and MIT, do the right thing. The world is watching. In the case of
Harvard, President Gay was asked by me 17x whether calling for the genocide of Jews violates Harvard’s code of conduct. She spoke her truth 17x. And the world heard,” she added in her post.

“In the case of MIT, Dr. Kornbluth answered the question. “If targeted at individuals” i.e. dehumanizing the Jewish people in her answer,” she added in her post on X.