'One down...': US Representative after UPenn president quits over antisemitism row

‘One down…’: US Representative after UPenn president quits over antisemitism row

Hours after Liz Magill, president of the University of Pennsylvania, resigned after drawing criticism over her stance on antisemitism on campus, Republican Representative Elise Stefanik, in an X post, said, “One down. Two to go.” She also called for an investigation into how universities handle antisemitism.

Magill was one of three top university presidents who were criticised after they testified at a congressional hearing on Tuesday about a rise in antisemitism on college campuses following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in October. She has agreed to stay on until an interim president is appointed.

Referring to Magill’s resignation, Stefanik said, “This is only the very beginning of addressing the pervasive rot of antisemitism that has destroyed the most “prestigious” higher education institutions in America. This forced resignation of the President of University of Pennsylvania is the bare minimum of what is required.”

Further, Stefanik wrote on X, “These universities can anticipate a robust and comprehensive Congressional investigation of all facets of their institutions negligent perpetration of antisemitism including administrative, faculty, and overall leadership and governance.”

“Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), do the right thing. The world is watching,” she wrote.

Stefanik also slammed Harvard University President Claudine Gay, who was amongst those who testified before a US House of Representatives committee on Tuesday.

As they tried to walk a line that protected freedom of speech, they declined to give a definitive “yes” or “no” answer to Stefanik’s question of whether calling for the genocide of Jews would violate their schools’ codes of conduct regarding bullying and harassment.

“In the case of Harvard University, President Gay was asked by me 17x whether calling for the genocide of Jews violates Harvard’s code of conduct. She spoke her truth 17x. And the world heard,” Stefanik wrote on X.

“In the case of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Kornbluth (Massachusetts Institute of Technology President, Sally Kornbluth) answered the question. “If targeted at individuals” ie dehumanizing the Jewish people in her answer,” she wrote.

Calls for Magill’s and Gay’s resignations in particular mounted in the days after that testimony.

Magill released a video on Wednesday in which she expressed regret, Gay apologised on Friday.

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