Top US university president quits after anti-Semitism uproar

WASHINGTON: The president of an Ivy League university stepped down on Sunday in the wake of a firestorm of criticism after a congressional hearing on the rise of anti-Semitism on US campuses.

The University of Pennsylvania President Elizabeth Magill “voluntarily tendered her resignation,” the chair of the university´s board of trustees Scott Bok announced.

Bok also stepped down himself, a university spokesman confirmed to AFP. Magill was among three presidents of elite universities who faced withering criticism following their testimony Tuesday during a congressional hearing on campus anti-Semitism.

The trio gave long, legalistic and seemingly evasive answers at the hearing when asked whether students who call for the “genocide of Jews” on their campuses violate codes of student conduct.

Blowback was rapid and intense. Seventy-four lawmakers wrote letters demanding the immediate removal of Magill and the presidents of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Pennsylvania´s Democratic governor called Magill´s performance “absolutely shameful” and a major donor said he would rescind a $100 million gift to the university´s Wharton School of Business.

At Tuesday´s hearing, Republican congresswoman Elise Stefanik asked each of the presidents if calling for the genocide of Jews violated university rules or codes of conduct. “If the speech turns into conduct, it can be harassment, yes,” Magill responded, according to a transcript on Stefanik´s office website.

Stefanik pressed on: “I am asking, specifically calling for the genocide of Jews, does that constitute bullying or harassment?” “If it is directed and severe, pervasive, it is harassment,” Magill said. “So the answer is yes,” Stefanik queried. “It is a context-dependent decision, congresswoman,” Magill responded.

When Stefanik heard similar answers from the others, she erupted: “It does not depend on the context. The answer is yes, and this is why you should resign.” Harvard´s president, Claudine Gay, apologized afterwards for failing to more strongly condemn threats of anti-Semitic violence on her campus. Bok, who helms the University of Pennsylvania´s board of trustees -- a body that handles major governance issues -- said Magill made “a very unfortunate misstep” as he announced her departure, student newspaper The Daily Pennsylvanian reported.