University of Pennsylvania Rector Liz Magill’s resignation comes after her participation at a congressional panel on antisemitism, where, along with two other Ivy League university leaders, Magill showed reluctance to condemn campus antisemitism.
During a hearing on antisemitism by the House Education and Workforce Committee on December 5, US representative Elise Stefanik asked the leaders of three major universities whether „calling for the extermination of Jews” ran counter to the code of conduct of their institutions. Liz Magill, the rector of the University of Pennsylvania, responded that it was „context-dependent”, which eventually led to an announcement of her resignation four days later, reports the tev.hu.
All three university leaders came under fire for their reluctance to condemn as antisemitic the anti-Israel and anti-Jewish demonstrations at their institutions. However, the words of the Rector Magill have provoked particularly vocal criticism.
Liz Magill, the head of the University of Pennsylvania, one of the most prominent institutions of higher learning in the United States, resigned as rector four days later after big financial backers of the university called for change in the institution’s leadership.
The chairman of the board of trustees of the elite Ivy League-affiliated University of Pennsylvania, Scott Bok, who has long defended the rector, announced his departure late Saturday night following the announcement of the rector’s departure. The chairman of the board of trustees announced his departure immediately after the board met on Saturday evening.
According to the statement, Liz Magill will be allowed to keep her job at the university, where she will continue her career as a lecturer in the law department.
The Israeli response to the Hamas terrorist attack on Israeli civilians on October 7 sparked a wave of protests in several major cities in the West and at American universities, with some openly anti-Jewish demonstrations. A committee has recently been set up in the House of Representatives to investigate.
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