UPenn President Liz Magill Resigns Amid Backlash Over Antisemitism

University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill has resigned in the wake of a disastrous congressional hearing over rampant 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."

During a House hearing Tuesday, Magill —along with officials from Harvard and MIT — faced questions over how their institutions responded to the rise in anti-Jewish hate since Oct. 7.

(Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Specifically, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik asked if students calling for the genocide of Jews would be considered hate speech or if it violated the school's code of conduct.

"It is a context-dependent decision," Magill responded.

When further pressed, Magill said, "If the speech becomes conduct, it can be harassment."

A flabbergasted Stefanik screamed back, "Conduct meaning, committing the act of genocide?"

Several government officials, including Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, said Magill's response was unacceptable.

"I've said many times, leaders have a responsibility to speak and act with moral clarity, and Liz Magill failed to meet that simple test," Shapiro said. "I think whether you're talking about genocide against Jews, genocide against people of color, genocide against LGBTQ folks, it's all in the wrong."

The governor added that the university's board needed to make a "serious decision" about Magill's leadership at the Ivy League university.

A Scripted Apology Wasn't Enough To Save Liz Magill

The evening after the hearing, UPenn posted a two-minute video where Magill attempted to give a weak apology for her words. In the video, she hid behind university policy and the First Amendment to justify her hesitation to explicitly condemn antisemitism on campus.

But, she conceded, she probably should have taken the word "genocide" a little more seriously.

"I was not focused on, but I should have been, the irrefutable fact that a call for genocide of Jewish people is a call for some of the most terrible violence human beings can perpetrate," Magill said in the video.

But it was too little, too late for her apology.

On Thursday, Penn alumnus Ross Stevens, CEO of the financial firm Stone Ridge Holdings, sent a letter to the university. He threatened to pull $100 million worth of shares in his company that are held by the university unless Magill vacated her post.

And so she did.

"It has been my privilege to serve as President of this remarkable institution," Magill said in a statement. "It has been an honor to work with our faculty, students, staff, alumni, and community members to advance Penn's vital missions."

She will remain in her role until the university appoints an interim.

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