University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill resigned from her post Saturday after facing intense criticism from the White House, lawmakers and high-profile alumni over comments she made during a congressional hearing on campus antisemitism.
“I write to share that President Liz Magill has voluntarily tendered her resignation as President of the University of Pennsylvania,” Scott L. Bok, the chair of the Penn Board of Trustees, wrote in a message to the Penn community Saturday. “She will remain a tenured faculty member at Penn Carey Law.”
Bok’s message included a brief statement from Magill, who said in part that “it has been my privilege to serve as President of this remarkable institution.”
In a five-hour House hearing Tuesday, Magill and her counterparts at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were grilled over how their institutions responded to the rise in anti-Jewish hate since Oct. 7.
In their testimonies, the three university leaders each condemned antisemitism. The outcry centered on a contentious exchange with Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., who asked whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” would violate each school’s code of conduct.
Instead of directly replying to Stefanik’s yes-or-no question, Magill said that decision would be “context-dependent.” “If the speech turns into conduct, it can be harassment,” she said.
Harvard President Claudine Gay responded to Stefanik’s line of questioning in similar terms. She testified that when “speech crosses into conduct, that violates our policies.”
MIT President Sally Kornbluth said she had not heard of students on her campus calling for the genocide of Jews, adding that such rhetoric would be “investigated as harassment if pervasive and severe.”
In a two-minute video message posted Wednesday night on the social media platform X, Magill elaborated on her answer and condemned calls for the genocide of Jewish people in more unequivocal terms.
