University of Pennsylvania head Liz Magill resigns amid row over antisemitism testimony | EUROtoday

The head of an Ivy League college has resigned following a fierce backlash to her congressional testimony by which she refused to say calling for the genocide of Jews constituted “harassment”.

Liz Magill, the president of the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), stop days after donors threatened to withdraw $100million items from the college if she didn’t go.

Scott Bok, the chair of the Penn Board of Trustees, stated on Saturday Ms Magill had “voluntarily tendered her resignation” as president and would stay a college member.

Ms Magill stated in a press release “it has been my privilege to serve as President of this remarkable institution.”Mr Bok later introduced his personal resignation following Ms Magill’s determination to step down, saying it was “the right time to depart”.

He stated Ms Magill had made a “very unfortunate misstep” —in keeping with that of two peer college leaders sitting alongside her—after 5 hours of aggressive questioning”.

”Following that, it grew to become clear that her place was not tenable, and she or he and I concurrently determined that it was time for her to exit.”

He stated Ms Magill was a “good person and a talented leader who was beloved by her team”, including: “She is not the slightest bit anti-Semitic. Working with her was one of the great pleasures of my life. Worn down by months of relentless external attacks, she was not herself last Tuesday.

”Over ready and over lawyered given the hostile discussion board and excessive stakes, she supplied a legalistic reply to an ethical query, and that was mistaken.”

During Tuesday’s five-hour listening to, Ms Magill and her counterparts at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) had been questioned on how their establishments had responded to the rise in anti-Semitism since 7 October.

While all three college leaders condemned Hamas and anti-Semitism, they refused to say whether or not  “calling for the genocide of Jews” would violate their college’s code of conduct.

’’If the speech turns into conduct it may be harassment, sure,” Ms Magill informed committee member Elise Stefanik.

Pressed additional, Ms Magill, 57, added: “It is a context-dependent decision, congresswoman.”

Their responses sparked criticism from the White House, Pennsylvania’s governor, members of Congress and donors.

One donor, Ross Stevens, threatened to withdraw a $100 million present due to the college’s “stance on antisemitism on campus” except Ms Magill was changed.

A day later, Ms Magill addressed the criticism, saying in a video that she would take into account a name for the genocide of Jewish folks to be harassment or intimidation and that UPenn’s insurance policies have to be “clarified and evaluated.”

Responding to Ms Magill’s resignation, Ms Stefanik stated: “one down. Two to go”.

She stated her departure is the “bare minimum of what is required”.

Writing on Twitter, Ms Stefanik added: “This is only the very beginning of addressing the pervasive rot of antisemitism that has destroyed the most ‘prestigious’ higher education institutions in America.”

Campus hosted Palestinian pageant

Ms Magill had already been below fireplace from some donors and alumni over the college’s dealing with of assorted perceived acts of antisemitism.

That included permitting a Palestinian literary arts pageant to be held on its campus in September that includes audio system whose previous statements about Israel had drawn accusations of antisemitism.

A former US Supreme Court legislation clerk, Ms Magill is the daughter of a retired federal choose and was dean of Stanford University’s legislation faculty and a high administrator on the University of Virginia earlier than she grew to become UPenn’s ninth president final 12 months.

Meanwhile, earlier on Saturday New York’s governor referred to as on the state’s faculties and universities to swiftly handle instances of antisemitism and what she described as any “calls for genocide” on campus.

In a letter to varsity and college presidents, Kathy Hochul stated her administration would implement violations of the state’s Human Rights Law and refer any violations of federal civil rights legislation to US officers.

Ms Hochul stated she has spoken to chancellors of the State University of New York and City University of New York public school programs who she stated confirmed “that calling for genocide of any group” or tolerating antisemitism violates codes of conduct on their campuses “and would lead to swift disciplinary action.”