Penn President Liz Magill Faces Pressure to Resign After Antisemitism Debacle

University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill faces pressure to resign after she evaded questions about antisemitism on campus during a hearing on Capitol Hill, and after a donor threatened to pull $100 million from the university.

CNN reported Thursday evening that the chair of the university’s board is expected to speak with Magill about stepping down over the controversy:

The University of Pennsylvania’s board of trustees held an emergency meeting Thursday as school president Liz Magill faces scathing criticism over her performance at a House hearing earlier this week.

Magill remained president after the hastily arranged board gathering concluded by midday Thursday, a source familiar with the proceedings told CNN. But Scott Bok, the chair of Penn’s Board of Trustees, is expected Thursday or Friday to talk to Magill about possibly stepping down, the source said.

…

Magill’s future hangs in the balance as a House committee is investigating Penn’s actions and a major donor called on Magill to resign and threatened to rescind stock, costing the university $100 million if she doesn’t. And a growing number of politicians and business leaders are also calling on Magill to step aide.

The trouble arose when Penn — once known for its strong Jewish community — became the epicenter of antisemitic protests after the Hamas terror attack on Israel on October 7. One protest Sunday night explicitly targeted a Jewish-owned business nearby.

Penn, like other elite universities, struggled to condemn the rhetoric and conduct of its radical students and professors. One student told lawmakers and the media on Capitol Hill Thursday that Jews students no longer felt physically safe at the university.

Magill compounded the damage when she told Congress Tuesday that calls to murder Jews were only a problem on campus in “context.” That led to a decision by the House Workforce and Education Committee ton launch a broader investigation.

The Committee is opening a formal investigation into the learning environments, policies, and disciplinary procedures at Harvard, UPenn, & MIT.

This should be a notice to every university that the targeting of Jewish students on campus will not be tolerated.…

— House Committee on Education & the Workforce (@EdWorkforceCmte) December 7, 2023

The White House, as well as Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, condemned the shocking performance of the university leaders.

She recorded a video on Wednesday in which she walked back her comments, saying she had not been “focused” during the hearing.

That was not good enough for Stone Ridge Asset Management CEO and Penn alumnus Ross Stevens, who threatened to pull a $100 million donation to the school.

On Thursday, according to CBS News, students and staff protested outside Magill’s office, with some calling on her to resign.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.