December 07, 2023
@Penn/X (formerly Twitter)
Penn president Liz Magill shared a video message responding to criticism of her testimony at Tuesday's congressional hearing on antisemitism at college campuses in the U.S.
Amid renewed calls for her resignation, University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill addressed the sharp criticism she's received for giving evasive answers about how the Ivy League school interprets language promoting genocide against Jews.
In a video message shared Wednesday evening, Magill clarified remarks she made Tuesday during a tense congressional hearing on antisemitism, where she was joined by the presidents of Harvard and MIT. The hearing was intended to examine whether Penn and other college campuses in the U.S. have been permissive of antisemitism entering academic life since the Israel-Hamas war began in October.
"I want to be clear," Magill said in the video. "A call for genocide of Jewish people is threatening — deeply so. It is intentionally meant to terrify a people who have been subjected to pogroms and hatred for centuries and were the victims of mass genocide in the Holocaust."
A Video Message from President Liz Magill pic.twitter.com/GlPE3QZU4P
— Penn (@Penn) December 6, 2023
During Tuesday's hearing, Magill had a pointed exchange with U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican from New York, who asked about Penn's view of free speech when it comes to calls for violence against Jews.
"I am asking specifically — calling for the genocide of Jews, does that constitute bullying or harassment?" Stefanik said.
"If it is directed and severe, pervasive, it is harassment," Magill answered.
But when Stefanik pushed Magill for a definitive "yes" or "no" answer, Magill said Penn's reaction to such statements would be "a context-dependent decision."
"That's your testimony today? Calling for the genocide of Jews is depending upon the context?" Rep. Stefanik said.
Magill's answers drew rebuke from Democrats and Republicans alike. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro reacted to Magill's testimony in Philadelphia on Wednesday while visiting Israeli-owned falafel shop Goldie, where pro-Palestinian demonstrators ignited controversy Sunday night for chanting outside the business. Shapiro called the protest there a "blatant act of antisemitism" and said Magill's equivocation at Penn brings her leadership into question.
"Frankly, I thought her comments were absolutely shameful," Shapiro said. "It should not be hard to condemn genocide. Genocide against Jews. Genocide against anyone else... If that doesn’t violate the policies at Penn, well, there’s something wrong with the policies at Penn that the board needs to get on, or there’s a failure of leadership from the president or both."
On Thursday afternoon, the congressional Committee on Education and the Workforce said it has now opened a formal investigation into Penn, Harvard and MIT in response to Tuesday's hearing.
"The testimony we received earlier this week from Presidents Gay, Magill, and Kornbluth about the responses of Harvard, UPenn, and MIT to the rampant antisemitism displayed on their campuses by students and faculty was absolutely unacceptable,“ said U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, the North Carolina Republican who chairs the committee. "Committee members have deep concerns with their leadership and their failure to take steps to provide Jewish students the safe learning environment they are due under law."
Foxx said the investigation will entail "substantial document requests" and will use subpoenas if the universities don't comply.
In her video Wednesday, Magill said she had tried to answer Stefanik's question from the wrong vantage point.
"In that moment, I was focused on our university's longstanding policies, aligned with the U.S. Constitution, which say that speech alone is not punishable," Magill said. "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. It's evil, plain and simple."
Penn's Board of Trustees held a virtual emergency meeting on Thursday, although it was not immediately clear whether the purpose of the meeting was to discuss Magill's future at Penn, CNN reported.
Penn is facing a lawsuit from two Jewish students who allege the university has not done enough to respond to antisemitism on campus. The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief requiring Penn to take action to change allegedly discriminatory policies, terminate and expel faculty and students who engage in antisemitic behavior, and implement mandatory antisemitism training at Penn.
The Ivy League school also is one of seven colleges currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education for complaints of antisemitism in the aftermath of the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7.
Israel's military response in Gaza has drawn condemnation from groups that contend Israel's actions have fueled a dire humanitarian crisis. The Gaza Health Ministry says more than 17,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began. On the Israeli side, 1,200 people were killed during the Oct. 7 attacks.
As Magill and other university leaders defend the value of free expression on their campuses, they have come under mounting pressure to ensure student safety and prevent tensions from turning violent. Penn Police are investigating multiple acts of vandalism on campus, including messages spray-painted on university buildings and surrounding businesses in recent months. The protesters who stopped outside Goldie on Sunday night later marched in University City, where buildings on Walnut Street were tagged with messages saying "Free Gaza" and "Intifada."
The Inquirer reported Wednesday that the protest outside Goldie came amid turmoil among staff at the restaurant, which is owned by Israeli-born chef Michael Solomonov. Two employees said they had been fired for wearing pins showing support for Palestine. Goldie is part of the CookNSolo restaurant group that held a fundraiser in October for the nonprofit Friends of United Hatzalah, which provides free medical services in Israel and sometimes supports the Israel Defense Forces "in times of severe conflict," a spokesperson in Jerusalem told the Inquirer.
The Philly Palestine Coalition, a group that has been organizing many of the local protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, said this was among the reasons for the protest at Goldie and a boycott of Solomonov's restaurants.
CookNSolo's owners reportedly shared a letter with staff addressing the climate at their restaurants and the company's policy of avoiding politics at work. CookNSolo denied that any of its employees were fired based on their support for Palestine.
Shapiro said the protesters' objections to Solomonov are not a valid justification for demonstrating outside his business.
“People have a right to protest a difference in policy in the Middle East or in Israel,” Shapiro said. “They don’t have the right to come protest a restaurant simply because it’s owned by a Jew and hold that Jew responsible for Israeli policy. That’s the definition of antisemitism.”
Magill said Wednesday she believes Penn needs to reevaluate its policies in light of the political strain affecting colleges, workplaces and other communities.
"In today's world, where we are seeing signs of hate proliferating across our campus and our world, in a way not seen in years, these policies need to be clarified and evaluated. Penn must initiate a serious and careful look at our policies."
