UPenn President Liz Magill resigns days after congressional testimony on antisemitism created uproar

An email was sent out to the Penn community around 4:30 p.m. 

Published: December 9, 2023 4:49pm

Updated: December 9, 2023 11:41pm

University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill is resigning from her position, according to multiple reports on Saturday. 

“It has been my privilege to serve as President of this remarkable institution," Magill wrote in a statement, according to The Daily Pennsylvanian.

An email was sent out to the Penn community around 4:30 p.m. 

Magill is expected to still remain a faculty member at Penn Carey Law, according to the email. 

"We will be in touch in the coming days to share plans for interim leadership of Penn," University Board of Trustees Chair Scott Bok wrote in a statement. "President Magill has agreed to stay on until an interim president is appointed."

Magill faced multiple calls to resign after appearing before Congress and testifying about antisemitism on college campuses. 

"One down. Two to go," Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., wrote on the social media platform X. "This is only the very beginning of addressing the pervasive rot of antisemitism that has destroyed the most “prestigious” higher education institutions in America."

MIT President Sally Kornbluth, Harvard President Claudine Gay and Penn President Liz Magill testified before the House Education and Workforce Committee on Tuesday.

Their testimonies also resulted in at least one major donor saying he's at least temporarily withholds financial support for Penn.

The criticism about the school presidents' testimony is largely about their answers to committee members' questions on whether calling for the genocide of Jews violates their respective school’s code of conduct on bullying or harassment, CNN reports.

None of them explicitly said that calling for such genocide would necessarily violate their code of conduct. They instead said it would depend on the circumstances and conduct and attempted to balance the matter with that of free speech.

 

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