UPenn President Resigns Days After Congressional Testimony

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Facts

  • University of Pennsylvania (Penn) Pres. Liz Magill and its chair of the board of trustees, Scott Bok, resigned Saturday just days after Magill’s testimony to Congress about how her school was handling antisemitism on campus. Bok shared a statement in which Magill said it was a 'privilege' to work at Penn and it was an 'honor' to 'advance Penn’s vital missions.'1
  • Bok also said Magill, who only held the position for a year and a half, will remain president until a replacement is appointed, adding that she will also remain as a tenured faculty member at the Penn Carey Law School.2
  • Magill on Tuesday joined Claudine Gay and Sally Kornbluth, presidents of Harvard and MIT, respectively, in testifying before the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Each expressed disgust over antisemitic occurrences on their campuses, but some of their answers didn't satisfy numerous lawmakers, students, and college donors.3
  • The next day, Magill apologized for her testimony, stating that 'In that moment' she was 'focused on our university’s longstanding policies aligned with the U.S. Constitution, which say that speech alone is not punishable.' However, she noted, she then came to realize she should've focused on the fact that calls for genocide are calling for 'some of the most terrible violence human beings can perpetrate.'3
  • In particular, Magill sidestepped a yes-or-no question about whether calling for the genocide of Jewish people would be considered hate speech, to which she said it depended on the 'context.'4
  • More than 70 members of Congress have issued a letter calling for the resignations of all three presidents, with one donor to Penn, Ross Stevens, withdrawing a $100M donation. So far, Harvard's Gay and MIT's Kornbluth have not stepped down.5

Sources: 1USA Today, 2NPR Online News, 3New York Times, 4Daily Mail and 5Daily Caller.

Narratives

  • Conservative narrative, as provided by Red State. Magill should be the first of the three presidents who testified before Congress to resign. Professors have been fired and students have had their enrollments rejected for lesser offenses in the face of the free-speech double-standard that’s been enforced by these schools. Unfortunately, even a change in leadership might not be able to free these colleges from the hold of wokeness.
  • Progressive narrative, as provided by Inquirer. In drawing the line between hateful speech and violent action, Magill was emphasizing the essence of the First Amendment. Freedom of speech is under attack, as Magill’s inquisitors and other politicians and members of the donor class are using the unfortunate rise in antisemitism to wrangle campus decision-making processes from administrators so they can attack a vast array of diversity initiatives.