Wharton board calls on Penn prez Magill to resign after congressional testimony
'The University requires new leadership with immediate effect.'
The board of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton business school is calling on university President Liz Magill to resign after she testified before Congress that “calling for the genocide of Jews” on campus does not necessarily violate university rules.
[RELATED: Donor pulls $100 million from UPenn, says he may reconsider if Magill is replaced]
A Thursday letter sent from the board to Magill, obtained by Axios, states that the board has met an “unprecedented” eight times since its regularly scheduled Nov. 16 meeting. These meetings “focused most pressingly on the safety of our students and community, as impacted by the current state of affairs at the University surrounding the terrorist attacks on Israel, the war in Gaza and the resulting antisemitic and hate-based behavior on the campus.”
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University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill is being asked to resign by the board of Penn’s Wharton business school. https://t.co/ofrbxiSz19 pic.twitter.com/wySprjgjnE— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) December 8, 2023
The board noted that “long before the congressional hearing,” it “felt so strongly” about such issues that it drafted related resolutions that it felt “should be promptly adopted by Wharton and the parent University of Pennsylvania regarding conduct on campus and leadership of the University.”
“In light of your testimony yesterday before Congress, we demand the University clarify its position regarding any call for harm to any group of people immediately, change any policies that allow such conduct with immediate effect, and discipline all offenders expeditiously.”
The board went on to “respectfully suggest” to both Magill and the Board of Trustees that “the University requires new leadership with immediate effect,” and “formally request that both Magill and the trustees “consider the safety of our students and the reputation of our great university and take these actions at tomorrow’s Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees.”
This comes amid widespread calls for Magill to resign, as well as the loss of a $100 million donation to the school in light of her testimony.