Anti-Semitism on American campuses: University of Pennsylvania president resigns

Penn State President Liz Magill, who has come under fire for her stance on anti-Semitism on campus, resigned Saturday. Elizabeth Magill has been in hot water since Tuesday, when she testified under oath at a US Congressional hearing about the rise of anti-Semitism on US college campuses.

“I write to inform you that President Liz Magill has voluntarily resigned as president of the University of Pennsylvania,” said Scott Bock, chairman of the Philadelphia University Board of Trustees, who himself resigned. The constitutional lawyer will remain in office until an interim president is appointed. She also remains a full-time faculty member at the university’s Faculty of Law, ranked 14th among the world’s best universities according to Shanghai’s rankings.

“Former President Liz Magill made an unfortunate mistake last week (…) after five hours of aggressive hearings before a congressional committee. After that, it became obvious that her position was no longer tenable, and she and I decided that it was time for her to leave,” he wrote.

“Two Left”

“One less.” Two left. “This is just the beginning of the fight against the pervasive rot of anti-Semitism that has destroyed America’s most “prestigious” institutions of higher learning,” New York Republican-elect Elise Stefanik responded to X (ex-Twitter). , at the heart of the dispute.

On Tuesday, Liz Magill, Harvard University President Claudine Gay and MIT President Sally Kornbluth testified before a US House of Representatives committee. While trying to maintain a free-speech line, all three acknowledged that sanctions against a student or teacher who calls for the genocide of Jews depend on “context.” Magill added that “if speech becomes conduct,” that is, if action occurs, “it could constitute harassment” under UPenn’s code of conduct.

Calls for the resignation of leaders accused of moral bankruptcy have become more frequent. Donors have threatened to withdraw support from prestigious private universities.

On Wednesday, Magill posted a video expressing her regret. “I was not focused on the undeniable fact that a call for genocide of the Jewish people is a call for the most horrific violence that a person can commit. This evil. Plain and simple,” she said in the video, reiterating her commitment to “creating a safe, secure and supportive environment so that all members of our community can thrive.”

Harvard President apologizes

Claudine Gay apologized Friday night in an interview with Harvard’s student newspaper, The Grimson. “When words add to the suffering and the pain, I don’t know how we can feel anything other than regret,” she insists in the interview, saying she then “got caught up in a protracted and belligerent exchange about procedures” at the expense of substance. struggle, namely that threats “will never go unanswered.”

Anti-Semitic incidents in the United States increased by about 400 percent in the two weeks following the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks and the Israeli response that led to the war in the Gaza Strip, according to the Anti-Defamation League. The Council on American-Islamic Relations said this week that the number of incidents motivated by Islamophobia and prejudice against Palestinians and Arabs has increased 172% since the start of the war compared with the same period last year.