The University of Pennsylvania is expected to ask its president, Liz Magill, to resign on Friday amid growing anger over her failure to denounce calls for the genocide of Jews – a move welcomed by billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who said he would ” one down.”
The Ivy League school’s board of trustees held an emergency meeting Thursday to deal with the fallout from Magill’s damning congressional testimony on Tuesday, which has prompted the Wall Street giant to try to withdraw a $100 million donation and led to calls for his ouster.
Board chairman Scott Bok is expected to speak with Magill about the resignation on Friday, a source familiar with the proceedings told CNN.
“One down,” wrote Ackman, one of the most vocal critics of the college’s failure to stop the rise of antisemitism.
“There is hope for UPenn,” he wrote while sharing a CNN report.
“I give this a 95% probability,” the Pershing Square CEO said of the possibility of Magill stepping down. “It’s not certain yet.”
University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill was reportedly pressured to step down from her position on Friday. Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
Still, Magill remains president, and a school spokesperson told CNN there are no immediate plans to replace him.
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“There are no board plans for an imminent leadership change,” the spokesperson told CNN.
The school did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for an update on Friday.
UPenn is facing increasing pressure to change its leadership, from major donors to its own staff — and even from Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro.
The governor, who is Jewish, called Magill’s testimony “disgraceful” and urged the board of trustees to meet to decide whether his statement was in line with the school’s values.
“Leaders have a responsibility to speak and act with moral clarity, and Liz Magill failed that simple test,” Shapiro told Jewish Insider.
Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman said he gave Magill a “95% probability” of resigning. Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
“Frankly, I think his comments are absolutely disgraceful,” he said. “It shouldn’t be difficult to condemn genocide.”
Shapiro called on Penn’s board to “meet soon” to decide whether Magill’s testimony “represents the views and values of the University of Pennsylvania” but said he would wait to see what action was taken before taking action himself.
The board of Penn’s Wharton Business School has also asked Magill to resign, sending his letter directly on Thursday in which members brag about their positions of power.
The board members include financier Ronald Perelman, banker Ken Moelis and billionaire sports team owner Josh Harris, according to the Wharton Advisory Board website.
“As a result of the faith expressed by university leadership and the collective failure to act, our board respectfully recommends to you and the Board of Trustees that the university needs new leadership effective immediately,” they wrote in their letter, obtained by The Post.
Ackman shared the news of Magill’s expected departure in a post on X, writing: “One down.” Bill Ackman / X
“Our board has been, and remains, deeply concerned about the dangerous and toxic culture on our campus that has been led by a select group of students and faculty and that has been sanctioned by University leadership.
“As confirmed in your congressional testimony yesterday, university leadership does not share our board’s values.”
Former US Ambassador Jon Huntsman, whose family has donated millions to the university, also called on the board of trustees to remove Magill.
“Let’s make this great institution shine again,” he said in a statement to CNN.
“We are anchored in the past until the trustees step up and completely cut ties with the current leadership. Period.”
“At this point, it’s beyond dispute,” Huntsman said of the decision to remove Magill, calling it “just a simple IQ test.”
“There is hope for UPenn,” Pershing Square’s CEO posted on X rumors of Magill’s resignation. Bill Ackman / X
Meanwhile, a Wall Street tycoon on Thursday vowed to withdraw a $100 million donation to the university if it did not resurrect Magill.
Ross Stevens, the boss of Stone Ridge Asset Management, joined a growing chorus of high-powered donors and angry elected officials calling for Magill’s leadership.
The hedge fund titan said he had “clear reasons” to revoke his donation and that law firm Davis Polk had sent a letter to the school stating that.
“Absent a change in leadership and values at Penn in the near future, I plan to cancel Penn’s Stone Ridge stock to avoid any reputational and other damage to Stone Ridge as a result of our relationship with Penn and Liz Magill,” the letter read. letter, obtained by The Post.
“I love Penn and it’s important to me, but our firm’s principles are more important.”
Amid criticism of his testimony on Tuesday, Magill (second from left) claimed he was not “focused” on the issue of genocide. Getty Images
Amid criticism of his testimony, Magill released a puzzling video apology in which he tried to explain away his head-scratching speech by saying he was not “focused” on the issue, and that he wanted to “clarify” that the call for genocide is “evil, plain and simple.”
But he also seemed to blame university policy and even the US Constitution for allowing calls to be made on campus.
“There was a moment during yesterday’s congressional hearing on antisemitism when I was asked whether calling for the genocide of Jews on our campus would violate our policy,” Magill began the two-minute video.
“At that point, I was focused on the university’s old policy — in line with the US Constitution — which says that speech alone should not be punished.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
