The University of Pennsylvania‘s Board of Trustees held an emergency meeting as president Elizabeth Magill faces calls to resign after her ‘unacceptable’ statements at a congressional hearing.
The hastily-arranged meeting started at 9am and is being held virtually – following a percussive flood of calls, from students and donors alike, for the president of the Ivy League college to be sacked.
This is the latest sign of the mounting, intense pressure on Penn to remove their president, who told Congress that reprimanding students who call for a Jewish genocide was not paramount – instead, it’s ‘context’ specific.
Magill, a lawyer by trade, smirked and smiled as she refused to categorize calls for the genocide of Jews as harassment or a breach of the school’s code of conduct.
UPenn President Liz Magill said the school had demonstrated its ‘unyielding commitment to combatting antisemitism’ – but also refused to categorize calls for the genocide of Jews as harassment or a breach of the school’s code of conduct. She smirked as she spoke to Congress
Scott L. Bok is the Chair of Penn’s Board of Trustees. He is also the CEO of Greenhill & Co., a boutique investment bank in New York.
The Vice Chair, who also attended the meeting, is Jewish banker Julie Beren Platt.
She is a philanthropist who has also served as the chair of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Federations of North America since 2022 – which helps distribute $3 billion to non-profits each year.
Beren Platt, who is now based in Los Angeles, graduated from Penn with a bachelor’s degree in 1979. She is the mother to prominent Hollywood actor Ben Platt.
In her charitable career, Beren Platt was one of the first people to sign the Jewish Future Pledge – a campaign encouraging Jewish people to give to good causes.
William P. Lauder, the billionaire chairman of The Estée Lauder Companies, Andy Rachleff, co-founder of Wealthfront, and Bonnie Miao Bandeen, a former Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, are also among Penn’s Trustees.
Insurance magnate Alan D. Schnitzer, venture capitalist Theodore E. Schlein, and Stacey G. Snider, the former CEO of 20th Century Studios, are also on the board.
Meanwhile, a petition calling for Magill’s resignation has grown to more than 12,300 signatures by Thursday morning.
Scott L. Bok is the Chair of Penn’s Board of Trustees. The Vice Chair is Julie Beren Platt
Magill attempted to rectify the situation on Wednesday, by releasing a video message on Penn’s social media. She stopped short of apologizing.
In the video, she said she was not ‘focused’ on the issue, and said she wanted to ‘be clear’ that calls for genocide were ‘evil, plain and simple’ – although she said the blame lay with her university’s policies and the constitution, rather than with her.
She said that as she sat with the presidents from MIT and Harvard, she was ‘focused on our university’s longstanding policies aligned with the U.S. Constitution, which say that speech alone is not punishable.’
Magill said Penn would evaluate and clarify the university’s policies on antisemitism.
During the shocking hearing, MIT’s Sally Kornbluth and Harvard’s Claudine Gay gave equally deplorable answers when quizzed about their colleges’ code of conduct.
All three colleges – considered the best academic institutions in the world – have witnessed a slew of unregulated anti-Israel protests since Hamas’ October 7 attack.
When Magill was nominated to take over as Penn’s president in 2022, she ran on the ticket flexing her ‘passionate commitment to academic excellence, diversity, equity, and inclusion.’
In a sensational attempt to backtrack after her appalling conduct in front of Congress, Magill posted a groveling video statement on Wednesday
This is the latest sign of the mounting, intense pressure on Penn to remove their president, who told Congress that reprimanding students who call for a Jewish genocide was not paramount – instead, it’s ‘context’ specific
MIT’s Sally Kornbluth and Harvard’s Claudine Gay (left) gave equally deplorable answers when quizzed about their colleges’ code of conduct
She pledged to promote free speech at the Philadelphia institution.
Part of that ‘free speech,’ it has transpired since Magill’s astonishing words in front of Congress, includes the lack of discipline for Penn students who call for the genocide of the Jewish people.
Magill has been an academic and visiting professor at the University of Virginia, Cambridge University in England, Harvard Law School, and Princeton University.
She started her education at Yale, completing a History degree in 1988.
Before joining Penn, Magill was the Dean at Stanford Law School for seven years. Her legacy at the West Coast college was ‘expanding and redesigning student life initiatives’ with her ‘strong emphasis on diversity and inclusion.’
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro slammed Magill’s comments.
He said: ‘That was an unacceptable statement from the president of Penn.
‘Frankly, I thought her comments were absolutely shameful.
‘It should not be hard to condemn genocide.’
Senator Doug Mastriano called for Magill’s immediate resignation on Thursday.
He wrote: ‘Your answer, combined with your demeanor (the smirk you wore on your face while delivering it) raised serious concerns about your personal commitment and the university’s willingness and ability to enact and advance policies to prevent antisemitic activity at the University of Pennsylvania.’
Senator Bob Casey said in response to Magill’s congressional appearance: ‘President Magill’s comments yesterday were offensive, but equally offensive was what she didn’t say.
‘The right to free speech is fundamental, but calling for the genocide of Jews is antisemitic and harassment, full stop.’
Senator John Fetterman also described the testimony as ‘a significant fail.’
He wrote: ‘There is no ‘both sides-ism’ and it isn’t ‘free speech,’ it’s simply hate speech. It was embarrassing for a venerable Pennsylvania university, and it should be reflexive for leaders to condemn antisemitism and stand up for the Jewish community or any community facing this kind of invective.’