“Mr. Stevens and Stone Ridge are appalled by the University’s stance on anti-Semitism on campus,” the letter said. “Its permissive approach to hate speech calling for violence against Jews and laissez-faire attitude toward harassment and discrimination against Jewish students would violate any policies or rules that prohibit harassment and discrimination based on religion, including those of Stone Ridge.”
Along with UPenn’s position on campus anti-Semitism, Mr. Stevens and Stone Ridge also cited Ms. Magill’s move during and after the hearing for its decision to withdraw the donation.
The letter signals Ms. Magill to step down as a condition to discuss its donations. “Until then, there can be no meaningful discussion about remedying the University’s ongoing failure to honor its obligations,” the letter noted.
Stone Ridge is not the first donor that has terminated donations to UPenn for its poor response to the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.
The Testimony
During her testimony titled “Holding Campus Leaders Accountable and Confronting Anti-Semitism” on Dec. 5, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) pressed Ms. Gay to answer whether “calling for the genocide of Jews violates Penn’s rules or code of conduct” regarding bullying or harassment.Ms. Magill said, “It is a context-dependent decision.”
“That’s your testimony today? Calling for the genocide of Jews is depending upon the context? That is not bullying or harassment? This is the easiest question to answer ‘yes,’ Ms. Magill,” Ms. Stefanik said.
“So, it’s your testimony that you will not answer ‘yes’?”
Ms. Magill said: “If the speech becomes conduct, it can be harassment. Yes.”
Ms. Stefanik said: “‘Conduct’ meaning committing the act of genocide? The speech is not harassment? This is unacceptable.”
“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,” she 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.”
“In my view, it would be harassment or intimidation,” she added.
Ms. Magill called for a review of UPenn’s policies, which she said have long been guided by the U.S. Constitution but need to be “clarified and evaluated” as hate spreads across campus and around the world “in a way not seen in years.”
“Penn must initiate a serious and careful look at our policies, and Provost Jackson and I will immediately convene a process to do so.”
Call for Resignation
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, told reporters on Dec. 6 that Ms. Magill’s response was “an unacceptable statement.”“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,” he said.
Mr. Shapiro also said it was time for the university’s board to make a “serious decision” about Ms. Magill’s leadership at the school.
On Wednesday, Ms. Stefanik told Fox News that all three presidents needed to be removed from their leadership positions, calling their answers “pathetic.” “They don’t deserve the dignity of resigning,” she said. “They need to be fired.”
“President Liz Magill’s actions in front of Congress were an embarrassment to the university, its student body, and its vast network of proud alumni,” Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.) said. “She has shown the entire world that she is either incapable or unwilling to combat anti-Semitism on the university’s campus and take care of its student body.”
The UPenn Board of Trustees held an emergency meeting on Dec. 7, but it’s unclear if it was regarding Ms. Magill’s employment.
On Dec. 7, Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) of the House Education and Workforce Committee announced that the committee had launched an investigation of Harvard, MIT, and UPenn. The panel said it would review the schools’ policies and disciplinary records and examine “their seemingly deplorable record.”
