University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill has resigned after widespread outrage over her testimony to Congress on antisemitism.
“I write to share that President Liz Magill has voluntarily tendered her resignation as President of the University of Pennsylvania. She will remain a tenured faculty member at Penn Carey Law,” Board of Trustees Chairman Scott L. Bok said.
The announcement came after days of intense pressure from university alumni and elected officials following Magill’s testimony in front of Congress earlier in the week.
“There was a moment during yesterday’s congressional hearing on antisemitism when I was asked if a call for the genocide of Jewish people on our campus would violate our policies. In that moment, I was focused on our university’s long-standing policies aligned with the U.S. Constitution, which says that speech alone is not punishable,” Magill said following the hearing.
“I was not focused on, but I should have been, on 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 has been my privilege to serve as President of this remarkable institution. It has been an honor to work with our faculty, students, staff, alumni, and community members to advance Penn’s vital missions,” Magill wrote over the weekend in a statement.
Magill will however keep her position as a tenured faculty member at the university’s law school.
