Liz Magill, U. Penn's president, and board chair resign as antisemitism testimony draws backlash

[Lexy]

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The University of Pennsylvania’s president has resigned amid pressure from donors and criticism over testimony at a congressional hearing where she was unable to say under repeated questioning that calls on campus for the genocide of Jews would violate the school’s conduct policy.

The chairman of the Ivy League school's board of trustees, Scott Bok, also resigned immediately during a trustees meeting Saturday evening, just hours after Bok announced Liz Magill's departure as president in just her second year.

Bok, a supporter of Magill's, defended her through several months of criticism over the university’s handling of various perceived acts of antisemitism.

He called her a good person and talented leader who is not “the slightest bit antisemitic,” but gave a legalistic and wooden response after being worn down by months of criticism and hours of questioning in the congressional hearing.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/yorks-govern ... 49566.html

[Momto2boys973]

Good. Now it’s Harvard’s and MIT’s turn to do the same with their presidents. Probably won’t happen because Magill was forced to retire over the university losing a $100 million donation over that hearing. That hasn’t happened to Harvard and MIT. A call for genocide of any group of people should never be “in context” or become an action in order to consider it unacceptable. Would they allow white supremacists to go around calling for the genocide of black people? Or Christian extremists to call for the genocide of LGBTQ? My guess is no.
Maybe she’s antisemitic, maybe not. That’s irrelevant. She minimized and condoned antisemitism ay UPenn, and this isn’t the first scandal she has had over this. Just days before October 7th, she was under fire for not putting a stop to an antisemitic festival at UPenn on Yom Kippur, of all days. And a couple of days before that, the Hillel house was vandalized by a student shouting antisemitic phrases.

[Lexy]

There are many more universities that need leadership resignations. Why stop at these three?

[AZOldGal66]

Goodbye, good luck, and good riddance!

[Lexy]

Magill will stay on as interim president until a new person is appointed, according to Bok. Magill will also remain a tenured faculty member at the Penn Carey Law School. The university will share details about interim leadership "in the coming days," Bok said.

https://www.npr.org/2023/12/09/12184155 ... sm-hearing

What's up with: she remits resignation but "will stay on until an interim President" can be appointed?

[Quorra2.0]

I support the first amendment and more relevantly I support the idea of free thought and expression. That said, I do not agree with the idea of free from consequences. The call for genocide of any people: Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Black, White, Native American, Indigenous, Arab, Israeli, Italian, Chinese, should NOT be tolerated on a campus that should be a safe environment for all students. It’s one thing to protest a war, protest for women’s rights, inequity, and a completely different thing to call for the death of people.