Trucks circled the University of Pennsylvania campus on Friday with billboards reading ‘Fire President [Liz] Magill’, as pressure mounts on the university to take action against its leaders.
The trucks also played a looped clip of Magill’s congressional hearing testimony from Tuesday, with Rep. Elise Stefanik (D-NY) asked him: “Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Penn’s code of conduct on bullying and harassment? Yes or no?”
Magill responded: “It’s a decision that depends on the context, Congressman.”
The billboard showed the photos, names and ages of Israeli kidnap victims with the caption: “Here’s your context, Liz”.
The Ivy League school’s board of trustees held an emergency meeting Thursday to deal with the fallout from Magill’s disastrous congressional testimony Tuesday, which has prompted Wall Street titan Ross Stevens of Stone Ridge Asset Management to try to withdraw a $100 million donation and led to calls for he was dropped.
A billboard at UPenn Friday calls out “Fire President Magill”. Robert Miller
In response to the appearance before the congress, which also included the presidents of MIT and Harvard, a group of 74 congressmen wrote a letter addressed to the governing boards of the three universities calling on them to “immediately remove each of these presidents from their positions”.
Referring to the congressional appearance, the letter states: “The testimony given by the president of your institution shows a complete lack of moral clarity and illuminates the problematic double standard and inhumanity of the Jewish community that is enabled by the president of your university.
“A university president’s response to a question aimed at addressing the growing trend of antisemitism on college and university campuses was disgusting.“
The board at UPenn’s prestigious Wharton business school — made up of some of Wall Street’s biggest groups and more powerful names — also joined the chorus of saying they had lost confidence in Magill.
They wrote in a letter this week: “As confirmed in your congressional testimony yesterday, University leadership does not share our Board’s values … Nor does it seem to understand the urgent need to address the safety of our students on campus,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
That was echoed in a statement by the Undergraduate Executive Board, which wrote Friday that they “unanimously support the actions expressed and taken by the Wharton Advisory Board. We stand as one with our Wharton Advisory Board colleagues in our collective commitment to enact all necessary steps for change,” according to a statement seen by The Post.
Magill backtracked from his appearance before congress in a baffling video apology published Thursday in which he said he was not “focused” on the issue, and that he wanted to “make it clear” that calls for genocide were “evil, plain and simple .
On Thursday after the UPenn Board of Trustees meeting, a spokesperson said: “There are no board plans for an imminent leadership change.”
However, UPenn Board of Directors members are planning another virtual gathering on Sunday as the school remains in crisis over its leadership, The Post has learned.
It was unclear whether the meeting – which came after reports that Magill was to be ousted on Friday – would make any decisions about leadership changes at the school or whether it would just be more hand-wringing about bad publicity.
Liz Magill is facing mounting pressure to step down as UPenn President. Penn/X
One source, who called the board “barbless,” said the decision to host another Sunday conversation came after Thursday’s executive committee lunch where Magill was reprimanded.
A handful of Trustees who met Thursday evening said in the meeting that Magill should “think about whether he can be effective” as President but declined to force him to resign, the source added.
The board’s continued refusal to fire Magill angered many who felt the only way for UPenn to save its reputation was to fire the existing leadership.
“Magill is doing it for himself.. I have no sympathy for him,” a source said of their desire to get rid of Magill.
The sources added they believe continued pressure from Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who has been vocal in his criticism, could result in his removal.
“Leaders have a responsibility to speak and act with moral clarity, and Liz Magill failed that simple test,” Shapiro told Jewish Insider.
“Frankly, I think his comments are absolutely disgraceful,” he said. “It shouldn’t be difficult to condemn genocide.”
“The governor is not letting go… he wants him out,” the source added.
The Ivy League school’s board of trustees held an emergency meeting Thursday. Robert Miller
A spokesman for the university did not respond to a request for comment.
During Magill’s testimony Tuesday, he claimed UPenn had assembled a task force to “identify actionable recommendations.”
The plan includes hiring experts who will help the university respond to antisemitism, Islamophobia and other hate on campus, according to the Philadelphia Enquirer.
“No place is immune, and campuses, including ours, have recently experienced an unacceptable number of antisemitic incidents,” Magill testified. “I have condemned antisemitism publicly, frequently, and in the strongest terms.”
Shortly after its appearance, a federal lawsuit was filed accusing the campus of being a hotbed of antisemitism long before the October 7 Hamas attack.
A Canadian electrical engineering student who did not want to be identified told The Post on Friday that students are stressed by the on-campus section and the attention.
He said Israeli hostage posters are constantly being put up and torn down on campus.
“Every day the missing poster goes up and then it’s removed,” he said.
“Many students are very pro-Palestinian, especially on social media.
“It has caused a lot of stress.
“We’re always in the news and you can’t miss the truck that always drives by with a big TV screen saying ‘kick out Magill’.
“We’ve started popping up in memes, saying the tunnel must be under UPenn.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
