Ivy League university president quits
University of Pennsylvania President Elizabeth Magill’s evasive answers in a congressional hearing backfires
Daily TribuneUniversity of Pennsylvania President Elizabeth Magill’s evasive answers in a congressional hearing backfires
The president of an Ivy League university stepped down Saturday in the wake of a firestorm of criticism after a congressional hearing on the rise of anti-Semitism on United States campuses.
University of Pennsylvania President Elizabeth Magill "voluntarily tendered her resignation," the chair of the university's board of trustees Scott Bok announced.
Bok also stepped down himself, a university spokesperson confirmed to Agence France-Presse.
Magill was among three presidents of elite universities who faced withering criticism following their testimony Tuesday during a congressional hearing on campus anti-Semitism.
The trio gave long, legalistic and seemingly evasive answers at the hearing when asked whether students who call for the "genocide of Jews" on their campuses violate codes of student conduct.
Blowback was rapid and intense.
Seventy-four lawmakers wrote letters demanding the immediate removal of Magill and the presidents of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Pennsylvania's Democratic governor called Magill's performance "absolutely shameful" and a major donor said he would rescind a $100-million gift to the university's Wharton School of Business.
Anti-Semitism and hate crimes targeting Jewish and Muslim people have risen in the United States and on university campuses since the 7 October attack on Israel by Hamas militants and the ensuing war in Gaza.
WITH AFP