December 11, 2023

SPECIAL EDITION THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA • FOUNDED 1885

PHILADELPHIA, MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2023

VOL. CXXXIX

NO. 31

MAGILL

RESIGNS

President Liz Magill to depart amid antisemitism controversies; shortest presidency in Penn history

PAGE 2

PHOTO BY ETHAN YOUNG

Board of Trustees Chair Scott Bok Resignations stun campus community, steps down after Magill’s resignation send national shockwaves Bok’s departure — which came minutes after Magill’s resignation — creates an unprecedented leadership crisis on Penn’s campus

Students expressed shock, relief, and concern about the implications for free speech and antisemitism

MOLLY COHEN AND JARED MITOVICH Senior Reporters

JONAH MILLER, EMILY SCOLNICK, SOPHIA LIU, PAIGE RAWISZER, AND GRETTA MAGUIRE Senior Reporter, Staff Reporters, and Contributing Reporter

Scott Bok stepped down from his position as the chair of the University Board of Trustees, according to a statement from Bok provided to The Daily Pennsylvanian.

The announcement was made at a meeting of the trustees at 5 p.m. on Dec. 9 — just minutes after Penn President Liz Magill’s resignation.

“I am on a trustee call now,” one source told the DP while he was on the call. “[Bok] just resigned.”

Bok’s resignation is effective immediately. Penn appointed Vice Chair and 1979 College graduate Julie Platt as interim chair and will appoint a new chair before the start of the spring semester.

“While I was asked to remain in that role for the remainder of my term in order to help with the presidential transition, I concluded that, for me, now was the right time to depart,” he said in a statement.

Bok announced Magill’s resignation in an email to the Penn community, thanking her for her service.

In his statement, he said Magill made a very “unfortunate misstep” alongside the two other presidents at Tuesday’s congressional hearings, and it became clear that Magill’s position was “no longer tenable.”

Magill and Bok decided “concurrently” that it was time for Magill’s exit.

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“Over prepared and over lawyered given the hostile forum and high stakes, she provided a legalistic answer to a moral question, and that was wrong,” Bok wrote in regards to the hearing. “It made for a dreadful 30-second sound bite in what was more than five hours of testimony.”

Magill’s response to a question from Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) during the recent congressional hearing on Tuesday has led to mounting scrutiny of University leadership.

During the hearing, Magill said it was “context dependent” when asked whether individuals calling for the genocide of Jewish people violate Penn’s code of conduct, in reference to student protestors on campus chanting, “Intifada revolution.”

This response prompted Stefanik to continue probing, and Magill ultimately reiterated that calling for the genocide of Jews “can be harassment.”

“The world should know that Liz Magill is a very good person and a talented leader who was beloved by her team. She is not the slightest bit antisemitic,” Bok wrote. “Working with her was one of the great pleasures of my life. Worn down by months of See BOK, page 3

While campus life proceeded largely as normal Saturday evening, Penn President Liz Magill’s unprecedented resignation sent shockwaves through the Penn community and the nation.

After dozens of alumni and donors called for Magill to step down following the Palestine Writes Literature Festival and the University’s response to Hamas’ attack on Israel, Magill faced mounting backlash for saying it was “context dependent” when asked whether individuals calling for the genocide of Jewish people violate Penn’s code of conduct at a congressional hearing about addressing antisemitism on Tuesday.

Students, faculty, alumni, and politicians have expressed a range of emotions about Magill’s departure — including shock, relief, and concern about Penn’s future and that of higher education.

Many students and faculty expressed unease over what Magill’s resignation means for the state of free speech and academic freedom at Penn.

“It’s very concerning for academic freedom as a whole that the university is kowtowing to the will of donors,” College first year Kyle Fukumoto told the Daily Pennsylvanian.

Fukumoto added that “once you start regulating speech, you make distinctions between protected speech

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and what’s not.”

College senior and progressive Jewish group Penn Chavurah organizer Jack Starobin described Magill’s resignation as “an alarming precedent” for the future of free speech and academic freedom at Penn and other higher education institutions.

Other students expressed concern for what the resignations mean in regard to free speech as campus conversations about the Israel-Hamas war continue.

“I’m alarmed at the implications for free speech and academic freedom as the far right uses this resignation as license to start policing calls for peace, ceasefire, and Palestinian rights,” Engineering sophomore and progressive Jewish group Penn Chavurah board member Lily Brenner said.

Engineering graduate student Malvik Balyan told the DP that Magill’s resignation was “something that had been a long time coming.”

“When calls for Jewish genocide are chanted on campus, I think that crosses a boundary,” Balyan said.

Magill handled a “challenging set of issues in a highly responsible and thorough manner,” 1968 Wharton graduate, University of Chicago professor, and free speech See REACTIONS, page 2 CONTACT US: 215-422-4640

2 NEWS

Magill resigns days after congressional testimony on antisemitism on campus Magill’s presidency becomes shortest in University history following Penn’s announcement on Saturday MOLLY COHEN, JARED MITOVICH, SAYA DESAI, AND IMRAN SIDDIQUI Senior Reporters

Penn President Liz Magill will resign, according to an email sent to the Penn community around 4:30 p.m. today.

“It has been my privilege to serve as President of this remarkable institution," Magill wrote in a statement. "It has been an honor to work with our faculty, students, staff, alumni, and community members to advance Penn’s vital missions.”

Board of Trustees Chair Scott Bok is also stepping down from his position as the chair of the University Board of Trustees. He made the announcement just minutes after Magill's resignation, according to a statement from Bok obtained by The Daily Pennsylvanian.

"Today, following the resignation of the University of Pennsylvania’s President and related Board of Trustee meetings, I submitted my resignation as Chair of the University’s Board of Trustees, effective immediately," Bok said in the statement obtained by the DP. "While I was asked to remain in that role for the remainder of my term in order to help with the presidential transition, I concluded that, for me, now was the right time to depart."

Magill will remain a tenured faculty member at University Carey Law School, according to the email. Shortly after Magill resigned, the trustees met at 5 p.m. Saturday, where Bok announced his resignation.

Bok wrote in the announcement of Magill’s resignation that the University would share plans for Penn’s interim leadership “in the coming days,” and Magill will remain president until an interim president is appointed.

Magill’s resignation was voluntary, and Bok thanked her for her service.

The announcement comes amid unprecedented

Vice chair Julie Platt appointed interim chair of Penn’s Board of Trustees A permanent chair is set to be appointed before the start of the spring semester MOLLY COHEN, JARED MITOVICH, AND ETHAN YOUNG Senior Reporters and Contributing Reporter

Julie Beren Platt will become the interim chair of the University Board of Trustees following the immediate resignation of University Board of Trustees Chair Scott Bok, according to a message to the Penn community.

"As current Vice Chair, Julie was the clear choice, and we are grateful to her for agreeing to serve in this capacity during this time of transition," the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees wrote in a statement, adding that Platt will only serve until the appointment of a successor.

Platt — a 1979 College graduate — previously served as the vice chair of the Board of Trustees and was the Penn Alumni president from 2013 until 2018. She has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 2006.

Platt will only serve the role as interim due to her commitment as chair of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Federations of North America, a position she has held since 2022.

The Executive Committee added that the nominating committee of the board of trustees will begin an "expeditious process" to recommend the next chair to the Executive Committee before the start of the spring

MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2023 national scrutiny over Magill’s remarks at a congressional hearing of the United States House Committee on Education and the Workforce and almost two months after several alumni and donors called for her resignation following the Palestine Writes Literature Festival and Hamas’ attack on Israel.

“On behalf of the entire Penn community, I want to thank President Magill for her service to the University as President and wish her well,” Bok wrote.

At the hearing, Magill initially said it was “context dependent” when Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) asked her whether calling for the genocide of Jewish people violates Penn’s code of conduct. Stefanik referenced calls for “intifada revolution” among some protesters on campus as calls for genocide.

Her comments fueled dozens of congressmen calling for Magill’s removal; a House committee opening an investigation into Penn with the threat of subpoenas; and the Wharton Board of Advisors repeatedly calling for a change in University leadership.

Magill is the first president to resign from the Penn presidency for reasons other than a government appointment. Her tenure will become the shortest of any permanent University president in Penn’s history, and she is the first Ivy League president to resign amid scandal since 2006, when Larry Summers resigned the Harvard presidency.

The Board of Trustees held an emergency gathering Thursday in the wake of resignation calls from dozens of government officials and Penn community members.

Magill expressed regret for her statements in a video released Wednesday evening, pledging to evaluate Penn’s policies regarding hate on campus. She announced her resignation a day before a second Board meeting that had been planned for Sunday.

The announcement also comes two months after Wharton Board of Advisors Chair Marc Rowan called for Magill and Bok to resign — alleging that the two leaders tolerated “antisemitism” on campus in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. Bok allegedly pressured Rowan and at least three trustees to step down after they publicly criticized the University’s response to the Palestine Writes festival.

In recent months, Magill and Bok faced intense criticism from a number of influential donors, including Rowan; Dick Wolf, the namesake of Penn’s Wolf Humanities Center; and Ross Stevens, the namesake of the Stevens Center for Innovation in Finance and Technology. Rowan has donated over $50 million to the Wharton School and this week announced he would pull a $100 million donation to the school.

The executive committee of University faculty organization American Association of University Proffessors at Penn wrote in a statement to the DP that trustees, donors, lobbying organizations, and members of Congress have “repeatedly misrepresented the words and deeds of Penn semester.

"We share your commitment to this extraordinary University, and while this is a challenging time, the Penn community is strong and resilient, and together, we will move forward," the Executive Committee wrote.

Platt is the president of the Julie Beren Platt and Marc E. Platt Foundation, Inc. Platt also serves on Penn Hillel's National Board of Governors.

On Oct. 11, in a statement provided to The Daily Pennsylvanian, Platt said that she had “full confidence” in Penn President Liz Magill and University Board of Trustees Chair Scott Bok’s leadership in response to Marc Rowan — the chair of the Wharton School's Board of Advisors — calling on them to step down on Oct. 11 due to the University's response to antisemitism on campus.

“I join with the many members of the Penn family in expressing solidarity with all those who have been impacted by the horrific assault on Israel by Hamas and in condemning these hateful acts of terror,” Platt wrote to the DP on Oct. 11. “The University has publicly committed to unprecedented steps to further combat antisemitism on its campus, reaffirmed deep support for our Jewish community, and condemned the devastating and barbaric attacks on Israel by Hamas.”

Magill announced her plans to resign in an email to the Penn community on Dec. 9. Minutes later, Scott Bok wrote that he is stepping down from his position as chair of the University Board of Trustees, according to a statement from Bok obtained by the DP. Alongside her husband, 1979 College graduate Marc Platt, Julie Platt made a significant gift to support the Platt Student Performing Arts House. The Platts also created the Julie B. Platt Endowed Fund in support of the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies and the Julie Beren Platt and Marc E. Platt Scholarship at the School of Arts and Sciences.

Four of Platt's five children are Penn alums: 2005 College graduate Samanatha Platt Auerbach, 2008 College graduate Jonah Platt, 2012 College graduate Hannah Platt Rosin, and 2021 College graduate Henry Platt.

Award-winning actor and singer Ben Platt — who is not a Penn graduate — is also Platt's son.

PHOTO BY ETHAN YOUNG

Vice Chair Julie Platt was appointed as the interim chair of the Board of Trustees, following the resignation of Scott Bok.

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM

PHOTO BY ETHAN YOUNG

Penn President Liz Magill enters the hearing room of the United States House Committee on Education and the Workforce on Dec. 5.

faculty and students who have expressed concern for Palestinian civilians and criticized the war in Gaza.”

Students, politicians, and faculty continued to weigh in on Magill’s resignation Saturday evening and Sunday, with many praising Magill for her leadership, some expressing concern about the implications for the future for higher education, and others claiming it was only the first necessary step in combating antisemitism on campus.

Magill’s tenure lasted less than two years, beginning on July 1, 2022. She came to Penn after serving as the dean of Stanford Law School and provost of the University of Virginia; her ascension to the presidency followed the nomination of former President Amy Gutmann to become the U.S. ambassador to Germany.

Magill was nominated as Penn’s ninth president on Jan. 13, 2022 and was formally inaugurated in October. In a 30-minute address in Irvine Auditorium, Magill spoke about Penn’s commitment to truth.

Magill took office at a time of heightened student activism across campus. During her first Convocation speech in 2022, protestors associated with the Coalition to Save the UC Townhomes interrupted the ceremony, cutting Magill’s speech short. Her first semester saw a monthlong encampment by Fossil Free Penn on College Green, culminating in the group storming the Penn football field during the Homecoming game on the same weekend as Magill’s inauguration.

After FFP stormed the football field at Penn’s Homecoming game in November 2022, Magill and Bok released a statement stating that Penn no longer holds any direct investments in fossil fuel companies, further clarifying the University’s position on its direct fossil fuel holdings.

REACTIONS, from FRONT PAGE scholar Geoffrey Stone wrote to the DP. “I am deeply disappointed and embarrassed that my alma mater treated President Magill so thoughtlessly and with such disrespect,” Stone wrote.

In an opinion piece published in The Washington Post, Penn Open Expression Committee member Claire Finkelstein said restricting speech was necessary to fight antisemitism on campus.

“University presidents are resisting this conclusion,” Finkelstein said. “Rather than confront the conflict between the commitment to free speech and the commitment to eliminating the hostile environment facing Jewish students on campus, many simply affirm their commitment to both or buy time by setting up task forces to study the problem.”

Several Penn students and politicians expressed hope that Magill’s resignation would serve as a turning point for addressing antisemitism on campus.

“I hope we can start to restore our campus community as a safe and inclusive place for Jewish students and all students from all backgrounds,” Vice President of Israel Engagement at Penn Hillel and College junior Maya Harpaz — who is also a member of the University’s antisemitism task force — said.

College junior and Vice President of Penn’s Jewish Heritage Programs Joe Hochberg told the DP he was happy when the resignation was announced.

“We were really excited to see that there was some accountability being taken,” he said. “Time and time again, [Magill] was just letting us down and not doing enough or doing completely the wrong thing.”

Hochberg called Magill’s comments during her testimony “really disgusting,” and pushed for “a lot of consideration” to go into appointing Magill’s successor “and that they will be more effective in handling antisemitism on campus.”

“Faculty who refuse to do that and endanger their Jewish students should absolutely face punishment,” Hochberg said. “That was something that Magill was not willing to do, and I certainly hope her successor will do.”

College sophomore and Vice President of Marketing on Penn Hillel’s Executive Board Lillie Abella told the DP that she “saw [the resignation] coming” and hopes Magill’s successor will “speak with moral clarity on behalf of the University.”

Abella added that Magill’s actions in front of Congress were alarming for her and for the Penn Jewish community.

To some, Magill’s resignation was less anticipated and more surprising.

“I was super shocked that she resigned,” Shi said. “I was just studying in the library, and then the email popped up.”

Other students expressed indifference to Magill’s resignation. College first year Howard Xu said that Magill’s resignation did not matter much to him due to the lack of control he feels Magill individually had over the University.

“There are only so many emails that [Magill] can send saying ‘I’m so sorry.’ It didn’t change anything,” he said.

“She didn’t have much power over the culture at Penn.”

Xu said that he thinks that her exit has come as a result of appeasing University donors after months of backlash, and that the University will “just find someone else who will do the same thing [Magill] would do.”

The number of consecutive statements from administration in recent weeks “shows that [Penn administrators] don’t actually have a coherent approach to this” and are “failing to balance too many opinions,” College junior Daniel Lein told the DP. Members of Congress and Pennsylvania politicians across both parties applauded Penn President Liz Magill’s resignation.

“One down. Two to go,” Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), whose exchange with the three university presidents led to amplified calls for Magill’s resignation, wrote on X. “This is only the beginning of addressing the pervasive

In an interview with The Daily Pennsylvanian in January, Magill discussed her goals and priorities as she settled into the role. She reaffirmed Penn’s commitment to become a carbon-zero University and discussed expanding the University’s relationship with West Philadelphia.

In the DP’s profile of Magill published during her first months in office, Magill’s colleagues, friends, and students depicted her as a persuadable but resolute leader who would prioritize listening and works behind the scenes to enact change.

In October 2022, Magill also formed The Red and Blue Advisory Committee to inform the University’s strategic framework over the next century. The committee was part of an initiative entitled “Tomorrow, Together: Penn’s Next Century” that became a new strategic framework to shape the University’s upcoming planning and initiatives.

The framework, announced in December and titled “In Principle and Practice: Penn’s Focus on Tomorrow,” is designed to “capture what the world needs from Penn and how we will cultivate a community that rises to the challenge,” according to a dedicated webpage for the plan.

Per the Penn Faculty Handbook, “When it becomes necessary to elect a new President, the Chair of the Board of Trustees shall convene a Consultative Committee, composed of trustees, deans, faculty, staff, and students, to advise in the selection process.”

The chair is also responsible for creating a search committee.

A final candidate is then brought forth by the Executive Committee to be voted on by the full Board. A candidate must receive an affirmative vote from two-thirds of the trustees to be elected president. rot of antisemitism that has destroyed the most ‘prestigious’ higher education institutions in America,” Stefanik added.

She said that the congressional investigation into Penn that was announced following the hearing will continue.

“These universities can anticipate a robust and comprehensive Congressional investigation of all facets of their institutions’ negligent perpetration of antisemitism including administrative, faculty, funding, and overall leadership and governance,” Stefanik said.

Committee Chair and Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) said that she welcomed Magill’s departure given she had “three chances to set the record straight” in response to Stefanik’s question.

“Instead of giving a resounding yes to the question, she chose to equivocate,” Foxx said. “What’s more shocking is that it took her more than 24 hours to clarify her comments, and even that clarification failed to include an apology to the Jewish students who do not feel safe on campus.”

After the congressional hearing, Foxx told the DP that “If higher education were doing its job, then I don’t think we’d have students demonstrating and being antisemitic.”

On Nov. 1, 26 Republican members of Congress sent a letter to Magill, condemning her response to the Israel-Hamas War. Some signatories also posted reactions to Magill’s resignation.

At a rally at Congregation Rodeph Shalom of Philadelphia on Sunday, Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. Bob Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania praised residents’ actions to combat antisemitism.

“I’ve seen it here in Philadelphia where students raised their voices, where students made sure they were heard in the halls of power at their university, and leadership was held accountable,” Shapiro said.

Shapiro previously told the DP on Thursday that he thought Magill’s testimony “was shameful and unacceptable” and that Stefanik’s question about genocide should have prompted an “easy, one-word answer.”

Yesterday, Casey echoed a similar sentiment in a statement to the DP that Magill’s resignation allows Penn to “chart a new course in addressing antisemitism on campus.”

“The Board of Trustees and other university leaders must ensure that Penn’s campus is a safe environment, not a hostile environment, for all students to learn without the specter of antisemitism, Islamophobia, or racism of any kind,” Casey wrote.

The alumni community was also grappling with Magill’s resignation.

1994 Wharton graduate and 2000 Wharton MBA graduate Lawrence Berger said that he “loved Penn” and that it “absolutely changed his life,” but that the resignations of both Magill and Bok were “long overdue.”

“I am very happy that she [Magill] and Bok finally resigned, and I am hopeful that there’s a lesson learned here,” Berger said. “The problem, I believe, is that you had a lot of trustees who backed her for a long time and built this institution to what it is now, which is an institution that is very rotten to the core and needs to be fundamentally changed.”

Berger also noted that he believed the resignations were “a step in the right direction,” but that there was more work to be done.

“I do not believe this cures all ills on campus,” Berger said.

1972 College graduate Jeff Rothbard told The DP that he “felt a sense of relief” when he heard of Magill’s resignation, but agreed that the resignations of Magill and Bok were not “going to cure the underlying problem that existed before either of them took office” in regards to antisemitism on campus.

Other alumni, including 1984 College graduate David Dormont, agreed.

Dormont said that he “thought it was a good thing that [Magill] was resigning as she had lost all credibility at all levels of the University” and that “there was no path forward.”

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NEWS 3

MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2023

A timeline of Liz Magill’s presidency The Daily Pennsylvanian compiled a timeline of the University’s defining moments during Magill’s year-and-a-half tenure JONAH MILLER Senior Reporter

Penn President Liz Magill will resign after less than two years as president.

Over her presidential tenure — which followed former President Amy Gutmann’s ascension as United States ambassador to Germany — Magill oversaw significant levels of student activism and labor organizing, changes in undergraduate admissions policies, a controversy surrounding the Penn Biden Center, and rising campus antisemitism that ultimately led to nationwide calls for her resignation.

The Daily Pennsylvanian compiled a timeline of the University’s defining moments during her year and a half as Penn’s president.

Jan. 13, 2022 — Magill was named the University’s ninth president. At the time, she was serving as the University of Virginia’s provost and executive vice president.

March 4, 2022 — Magill was officially confirmed as Penn’s president by the Board of Trustees, marking the first presidential transition at Penn in 18 years and the third consecutive female president to be inaugurated.

Aug. 29, 2022 — Over 100 protesters interrupted Magill minutes into her first convocation speech for the Class of 2026. The protestors, which included students and the Coalition to Save the UC Townhomes, began chants against the sale of the affordable housing units adjacent to Penn’s campus.

Oct. 21, 2022 — Magill was inaugurated as Penn’s ninth president, commencing her tenure, which started on July 1, 2022.

Festivities included a picnic and concert featuring musicians Sheryl Crow and Jeff Tweedy to celebrate Magill’s inauguration.

Magill and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan spoke about the importance of compromise on the court and free speech on college campuses later that day.

Oct. 22, 2022 — Over 60 protesters affiliated with Fossil Free Penn stormed Franklin Field during Penn’s Homecoming football game, delaying the game by over an hour. Nineteen people, including 17 students, were arrested by Penn Police after being escorted off the field.

Following the storming of the field, Magill and Board of Trustees Chair Scott Bok released a statement asserting that Penn no longer holds any direct investments in fossil fuel companies.

Jan. 9, 2023 — The Department of Justice announced that it would review classified documents that were found at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, a University think tank based in Washington, D.C. Jan. 18, 2023 — Penn denied allegations of foreign influence at the Penn Biden Center after a congressional inquiry sent to Magill by the U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee.

March 15, 2023 — A supermajority of residential advisors and graduate resident associates filed for union recognition with the National Labor Relations Board, arguing that they were “undervalued and underpaid.”

March 22, 2023 — A DP analysis found that Penn Admissions had quietly refined policies related to legacy admissions.

May 8, 2023 — Over 1,000 Penn Medicine residents and fellows voted to gain union recognition in an 892110 vote.

June 29, 2023 — After the Supreme Court overturned affirmative action in college admissions, Magill said that the University is studying the court’s opinion to ensure that Penn's admissions program complies with the law.

Sept. 12, 2023 — Magill, joined by Provost John Jackson and School of Arts and Sciences Dean Steven Fluharty, published a statement addressing criticism of the Palestine Writes Literature Festival being held in University spaces.

The festival sparked fear and outrage among some Penn students, alumni, and community members, as well as national Jewish groups who objected to the inclusion of speakers who they said have antisemitic histories.

Sept. 13, 2023 — A spray-painted swastika was discovered in Meyerson Hall in the Stuart Weitzman School of Design, the first of several antisemitic incidents that have eclipsed the fall 2023 academic semester.

Sept. 21, 2023 — Several members of Penn’s Board of Trustees signed an open letter on Sept. 21 to Magill, calling on her to distance the University from the Palestine Writes Literature Festival. The letter was signed by more than 2,000 Penn alumni and community members, including Wharton Board of Advisors Chair Marc Rowan.

Sept. 21, 2023 — An individual vandalized the Penn Hillel building while shouting antisemitic rhetoric one day before the start of the Palestine Writes Literature Festival and a few days before the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.

Sept. 22, 2023 — Magill condemned the vandalism at Penn Hillel and the swastika discovered at Meyerson Hall, pledging additional steps to protect Jewish students.

Sept. 22, 2023 — Hundreds of students attended Penn Hillel for “Shabbat Together,” an event to promote Jewish unity following the first day of the Palestine Writes Literature Festival and among several antisemitic incidents on campus.

Sept. 28, 2023 — RAs and GRAs voted to unionize under the Local 153 branch of the Office and Professional Employees International Union in a 142-22 vote.

The NLRB voted to certify the union election the following week, allowing the students to enter collective bargaining negotiations with the University.

Oct. 4, 2023 — 1,900 doctoral, master’s, and

Congress launches investigation of Penn after antisemitism hearing

PHOTO BY JESSE ZHANG

President Liz Magill speaks at Convocation on Aug. 29, 2022.

undergraduate student workers, collectively known as the Graduate Employees Together at the University of Pennsylvania, organized a 300-person rally before attempting to deliver a letter to Magill detailing their intention to unionize.

Oct. 11, 2023 — Following Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, Rowan — who is the CEO of Apollo Global Management — called for donors to “close their checkbooks” and for Magill and Bok to resign. Rowan’s letter began a wave of high-profile donors pulling support from the University over the administration’s handling of antisemitism.

Oct. 15, 2023 — 1987 College graduate Jon Huntsman Jr. — a former University trustee, governor of Utah, and U.S. ambassador — announced that his family would terminate donations to Penn, calling the school “almost unrecognizable.”

Oct. 16, 2023 — 1965 Wharton graduate Ronald Lauder confirmed he would halt donations to the University.

Nov. 1, 2023 — Magill announced a University-wide action plan to combat antisemitism.

Nov. 7, 2023 — Over 20 members of Congress sent a letter to Magill criticizing Penn’s response to the IsraelHamas War, asserting that the administration’s response was untimely and put the University’s moral compass in question.

Nov. 14, 2023 — The Freedom School for Palestine – a self-identified collection of Penn students, faculty, staff, and alumni – occupied the ground floor of Houston Hall to protest the University’s response to the Israel-Hamas War. The teach-in continues.

Nov. 16, 2023 — The U.S. Department of Education announced an investigation into Penn over alleged instances of antisemitism on campus.

Nov. 28, 2023 ­ — The House Committee on

Education and The Workforce announces in a press release that Magill will testify in front of Congress about addressing antisemitism on campus.

Nov. 30, 2023 — Magill announces “In Principle and Practice: Penn’s Focus on Tomorrow,” a new strategic framework for shaping University initiatives.

Dec. 3, 2023 — A pro-Palestinian march across Philadelphia marched from Center City along Walnut Street adjacent to the University campus. Several businesses were graffitied with messages both condemning Penn and expressing pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel sentiments.

Dec. 5, 2023 — Magill testified before the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce about antisemitism on college campuses.

In an exchange that made national headlines, Magill said that it was "context dependent" when asked whether individuals calling for the genocide of Jewish people violate Penn’s code of conduct. She received harsh criticism from Penn Hillel, the White House, Pennsylvania’s governor, and the U.S. Senate delegation, along with many donors, students, and other politicians calling for her removal from Penn’s presidency.

Dec. 5, 2023 — Progressive Jewish student group Penn Chavurah and other pro-Palestinian groups protest outside of Magill’s testimony and publish a statement, claiming the hearing was an instance of “political theater.”

Dec. 5, 2023 — Two Penn students filed a lawsuit against the University, alleging that the University has not sufficiently responded to antisemitism on campus.

Dec. 9, 2023 — Magill's resignation from the presidency was announced in an email sent to the Penn community around 4:30 p.m.

Staff reporter Paige Rawiszer contributed reporting.

BOK, from FRONT PAGE

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) warned of subpoenas and using “full Congressional authority” to hold Penn accountable JONAH MILLER Senior Reporter

The United States House Committee on Education and the Workforce announced an investigation into Penn with the "full force of subpoena power" following a Tuesday hearing on antisemitism on college campuses that received national attention.

In a statement provided to The Daily Pennsylvanian, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) wrote that the committee will use its "full Congressional authority" to hold Penn, Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology accountable for "their failure on the global stage."

"After this week's pathetic and morally bankrupt testimony by university presidents when answering my questions, the Education and Workforce Committee is launching an official congressional investigation," Stefanik wrote.

The investigation comes amid widespread criticism over Penn President Liz Magill's congressional testimony, where she said it was "context dependent" when asked whether individuals calling for the genocide of Jewish students violates Penn's code of conduct.

Harvard and Massachusetts Institue of Technology’s presidents were also at the hearing.

“Penn is aware of the investigation and will fully cooperate,” University spokesperson said.

In a press release, Committee Chairwoman and Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) wrote that the three presidents' responses during Tuesday's testimony "was absolutely unacceptable."

“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 wrote, adding that the investigation will include document requests and

potential subpoenas "if a full response is not immediately forthcoming."

“The disgusting targeting and harassment of Jewish students is not limited to these institutions, and other universities should expect investigations as well, as their litany of similar failures has not gone unnoticed," Foxx wrote in the statement.

The University Board of Trustees held an emergency gathering on Thursday morning amid the criticism over Magill's remarks. The DP could not confirm if the meeting was related to Magill's future as president.

At the hearing, Stefanik asked whether individuals who call for the genocide of Jewish people violate Penn’s policies or code of conduct. Stefanik described calls for "Intifada revolution" among some protesters on campus as calls for genocide of Jewish people.

“If the speech turns into conduct, it can be harassment,” Magill told Stefanik at the committee hearing, later adding, “It is a context dependent decision."

The University's "Free Speech FAQs" detail Penn's guidelines governing hate speech. These rules state that speech can only be disciplined by the University if "the inflammatory speech intentionally and effectively provokes a crowd to immediately carry out violent and unlawful action."

"Universities can invest their efforts and resources in educating their members and in creating spaces and contexts for productive dialogue, but they cannot legitimately punish members — students, staff, and faculty — who choose not to participate in those, or who profess bigoted and other hateful views," Penn's policy reads. "This is especially true in open and public spaces, like Locust Walk."

PHOTO BY ANNA VAZHAEPARAMBIL

Liz Magill, Sally Kornbluth, and Claudine Gay, the presidents of Penn, MIT, and Harvard, testify before Congress

PHOTO BY ETHAN YOUNG

Former Board of Trustees Chair Scott Bok at the Board of Trustees meeting on Nov. 3.

relentless external attacks, she was not herself last Tuesday.”

The University’s “Free Speech FAQs” detail Penn’s guidelines governing hate speech. These rules state that speech can only be disciplined by the University if “the inflammatory speech intentionally and effectively provokes a crowd to immediately carry out violent and unlawful action.”

Bok — a 1981 College and Wharton graduate, and 1984 University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School graduate — began serving as chair on July 1, 2021, succeeding David Cohen, who had served as chair since November 2009. Bok oversaw the presidential transition between Amy Gutmann, who is now the United States ambassador to Germany, and Magill, who has served as president since July 2022.

“I wish Liz well in her future endeavors. I believe that in the fullness of time people will come to view the story of her presidency at Penn very differently than they do today,” Bok wrote. “I hope that some fine university will in due course be wise enough to give her a second chance, in a more supportive community, to lead. I equally hope that, after a well deserved break, she wants that role.”

This resignation comes after months of criticism of Magill and Bok over the University’s response to the Palestine Writes Literature Festival, the Israel-Hamas War, and antisemitism on campus — along with Magill’s recent statements at the congressional hearing.

Bok allegedly pressured Wharton Board of Advisors Chair Marc Rowan and at least three trustees to step down after they publicly criticized the University’s response to the Palestine Writes festival, The Daily Pennsylvanian reported in October.

In a statement to the DP on Oct. 12, Bok disputed Rowan’s allegations, saying that the

Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees told two trustees who signed onto a public letter criticizing the University that “they could consider voluntarily resigning, thereby freeing [them] from all the constraints involved in serving on a board.”

On Oct. 16, Bok wrote a guest column for the DP where he responded to Rowan’s allegations and called on the Penn community to work together and move forward in difficult times.

Also in October, Platt released a statement to the DP in response to Rowan’s allegations, saying that she has had “full confidence” in the leadership of Bok and Magill.

In her statement, Platt added that the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees had “unanimously endorsed” the steps Penn has taken to respond to acts of antisemitism.

“The University has publicly committed to unprecedented steps to further combat antisemitism on its campus, reaffirmed deep support for our Jewish community, and condemned the devastating and barbaric attacks on Israel by Hamas,” Platt wrote.

Vahan Gureghian, who resigned from the Board of Trustees in protest of University leadership, wrote to the DP that the action plan “is a good first step in the University’s road to recovery from the terrible controversy that has crippled this once great institution.”

However, he said that it took too much time and pressure for Magill to announce the plan.

“The silence over the past few weeks is indicative of these leaders just hunkering down and waiting for the storm to pass,” Gureghian wrote.

A meeting of the trustees was scheduled for Sunday, according to the source, who also estimated that there were approximately a dozen “explicit calls” for Bok to step down. Bok extended a previously scheduled meeting of the trustees for next Thursday from one to two hours, although he did not foresee how a decision on Magill’s future could be made before then, the source said.

4 OPINION

MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2023

Opinion

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THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | THEDP.COM

Editorial | The nation’s eyes are on us. Let’s make our voices heard.

To call this semester unprecedented would be an understatement.

At The Daily Pennsylvanian, many of us have been spending day in and day out in the newsroom. Even when we are not drafting and editing our upcoming stories, we are invariably affected by ongoing events on campus.

On Locust Walk, we’ve passed by oncampus protests and vigils at the LOVE statue. We have also walked past projections of pro-Palestinian messages that our University has designated as “antisemitic” and “vile.” On Walnut Street, we pass the Accuracy in Media trucks every day as we walk to class, but we also may pass Penn Hillel and AEPi, which have been subjected to antisemitic vandalism over the course of this semester.

There is no handbook for how to handle journalism, or just being a student, in times like this. It can be incredibly disorienting and debilitating to watch as a space that you have called home loses the comfort and safety you once saw in it. As news outlets descend on Penn — reporters from prominent outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post, and local television channels alike — to cover the ongoing campus tensions, our campus doesn’t really feel like a community anymore.

To be sure, these tensions are important to cover, and tie back to relevant and ongoing national issues such as antisemitism, free speech, and ongoing conflicts.

But with all of this coverage, Penn begins to feel less like a community and more like a political battleground, or a theater where you don’t know what new plot twist will emerge next. And we still have our final

exams and projects to get through, not to mention our personal lives and social events.

Right now, it seems as though everyone, everywhere has an opinion on what is happening at Penn. Earlier this week, a letter signed by 74 United States representatives called for the removal of Liz Magill and the other university presidents who testified at the hearing. Columnists at The Philadelphia Inquirer, The New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times have weighed in with their thoughts as news of her resignation reached national headlines. Saturday Night Live featured Magill (or rather, Heidi Gardner playing her) and her congressional hearing in their cold open on Saturday.

In this moment of information overload, it is important to remember that we have the power to control the campus conversation, and, by extension, the national one.

We are the boots on the ground, that witness first-hand what is happening — at the DP, we reported on Magill’s resignation nine minutes before The New York Times did.

As we were reporting on the hearing on Tuesday from Washington, D.C., two DP staffers were approached by The Boston Globe and asked if how members of the Congress were depicting the state of affairs at Penn right now was true to campus reality.

It’s an open question, and we hope that as the days go by, more and more students will feel comfortable answering it, be it in discussions with the news outlets circling campus, or in more casual chats with peers and faculty.

When we all go home for the holidays, it’s a near certainty that we will be fielding

similar questions about what’s been happening at Penn. But every student at Penn will have had different experiences and perspectives, which national outlets have oversimplified with limited coverage on the lead-up to the University’s leadership crisis.

Liz Magill and Scott Bok’s respective resignations did not occur in a vacuum. The tensions leading up to all of this have been palpable since late September, when the Palestine Writes Literature Festival took place. The event had garnered significant controversy because while it was held to celebrate art and culture, there were several speakers with an alleged history of antisemitic remarks.

Since the festival, Penn’s community has been hit hard by the reverberating impacts of the ongoing war in Israel and Gaza.

Students and faculty have expressed concerns for their safety after involvements in pro-Palestinian demonstrations and have experienced strings of antisemitic incidents on campus. Students of Arab backgrounds have also stated that they feel less safe and supported than they did before. Outside of safety concerns, many Penn students are still processing their emotions and grief from the Oct. 7 attacks and the continuing violence that has ensued.

We have watched global and local events converge on this campus over this past fall, though it has picked up pace over the last few weeks. After Penn Chavurah screened “Israelism,” a documentary critical of the state and faced University attempts to postpone it, Penn’s Middle East Center director resigned, citing violations of academic freedom.

Overarching this chain of events have

been the prominent figures we see in the news­— the Marc Rowans, the Elise Stefaniks, and the rest — withdrawing donations to Penn and speaking out against Penn’s administration in Congressional hearings.

While these figures are important to the narrative that we will tell months and years from now about what happened to the University of Pennsylvania in fall 2023, they have not been physically here.

They have not stepped on campus and engaged with students, faculty, and the Penn community at large the way that we have and we continue to do everyday.

So, let’s take the initiative on filling them in. As global and local events continue to converge on this campus now and into the future, we should not let voices that are prominent but distant, speak for us. We encourage our readers to take part in active conversations with the media — for instance, by reading articles critically and providing feedback on them, or writing and publishing their own content — and with each other.

The path forward for Penn must be paved with more speech, not less. As members of the Penn community, we have a special opportunity, and some may even say responsibility, to speak up about our experiences here.

Editorials represent the majority view of members of The Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc. Editorial Board, which meets regularly to discuss issues relevant to Penn’s campus. Editorial writers are not involved in any news reporting on related topics.

First Liz Magill, next free speech VESELEY’S VISION | The University folded to the pressure. What’s next?

On Saturday, Liz Magill issued her resignation as president of Penn, and in doing so, may have set the University on a path that could lead to censorship of students and staff alike.

Since the Palestine Writes Literature Festival, Magill has been accused of being antisemitic by members of the Penn community and the world for allowing the festival to occur. Following many email statements denouncing antisemitism, her response to Congress by citing legal terminology — rather than saying what people assumed was the easy answer — was the final straw. By then, she had lost the support of several Penn donors, over 74 members of Congress, and even the Wharton Board of Advisors.

A few seconds long, the sound bite from an hours-long hearing went viral. When asked whether calls for the genocide of Jewish people would violate Penn’s policies or code of conduct, she stated that it depended on the context, in that it qualifies as harassment “if it is directed, and severe, pervasive.” This upset many people, as the answer to this question in their minds should have been yes, and Magill’s failure to say that three letter word seemingly proved her antisemitism.

This question of whether that speech alone violates the code of conduct is not an easy question to answer. The presidents of Harvard and MIT also had similar answers in stating that free speech is permitted, but there is a line that speech crosses from being protected to being harmful. Therefore the answer was not unequivocally “yes.” The First Amendment affirms protected speech, and in the case of student protestors, allows them to uphold their right to peaceful assembly. Hateful speech is not protected. Yet there is no hard line

PHOTO BY ABHIRAM JUUVADI

Columnist Mia Vesely addresses the implications of Magill’s resignation on free speech on Penn’s campus.

as to when speech crosses that barrier, especially in the case of university student protest.

A distinct “yes” to this question would have been extremely harmful to free speech and technically not true as reflected in the actual code. In the Penn code of conduct, speech alone cannot warrant disciplinary action. Penn has a commitment to freedom of expression and was founded on that discipline. Following this hearing, Magill issued an apology for approaching the question from a legal background, but the apology fell on deaf ears.

There is no chance that Magill was not prepared by the University for that hearing, so to abandon her in the aftermath of a statement — one that I’m sure other people had a say in crafting for Magill — leaves me feeling even less confident in the direction we are heading as an institution.

I see this resignation not as “voluntary,”

as stated in the letter sent to students by Scott Bok, but as a result of unfair pressure placed upon Magill from across the board.

Bok — Penn’s Board of Trustees Chair — issued his resignation immediately following Magill’s.

In Bok’s resignation letter, he said he stands with Magill and that “she is not the slightest bit antisemitic.” While asked to stay to help in the aftermath, he chose to stick by Magill and leave Penn alongside her. He, as do I, believes Magill is a good person placed under challenging circumstances. He added that he hopes “some fine university will in due course be wise enough to give her a second chance, in a more supportive community, to lead.”

Magill was left unsupported by Penn, and Bok saw that firsthand.

While the focus now is on Magill and the immediate shock generated from her resignation, I suggest we move this focus

to what this means going forward.

This entire situation is unprecedented and cannot be understated. Magill was swept up in a hostile questioning by members of Congress, donors who opposed the University’s direction, and poor preparation to speak to Congress on a topic that people believe needed a human answer, not a factual one. Wilmerhale — the law firm that prepared both Magill and Harvard President Gay — declined to comment on Magill’s resignation.

In my previous article, I hypothesized that Magill’s outspoken nature would be hard to keep up with, and that sooner or later she would say the wrong thing and push the wrong buttons. That day came, and she was left no other options but to leave. Magill was faced with an impossible situation, but once she started speaking out, it was only a matter of time before one of her statements hit a nerve.

I ask you: What is next? If university presidents can be bullied into stepping down for allegations that serve as a contrast for actual policies they’re implementing, where do we go from here?

Do we censor free speech and punish students for saying political statements that don’t align with major donors? Do we cast aside the First Amendment and live on a campus that doesn’t allow free expression?

While Magill and Bok have both jumped ship, I worry for the rest of us on it, and look ahead with trepidation to see who will steer the boat.

MIA VESELEY is a College sophomore studying philosophy, politics, and economics from Phoenix, A.Z. Her email is mvesely@sas.upenn.edu.

Staying focused after Magill’s resignation LETTER SUBMISSION Have your own opinion?

Send your letter to the editor or guest column to letters@thedp.com.

Editorials represent the majority view of members of The Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc. Editorial Board, which meets regularly to discuss issues relevant to Penn’s campus. Participants in these meetings are not involved in the reporting of articles on related topics.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The Land on which the office of The Daily Pennsylvanian stands is a part of the homeland and territory of the LenniLenape people, known to the original Indigenous people as “Lenapehoking.” We affirm Indigenous sovereignty and will work to hold The Daily Pennsylvanian and the University of Pennsylvania more accountable to the needs of Native American and Indigenous people.

JACK OUTSIDE THE BOX | Remember to take care of yourself and your peers as we near the end of the fall term After an incredibly tumultuous semester of conflict, clashes, and controversy, Penn has found itself in a leadership crisis. I spent time nearly every day this term thinking about the issue of antisemitism, social movements forming at Penn, and how our administration was under fire from donors and (eventually) politicians. In what has seemed like an impending doom since October, Liz Magill’s resignation on Saturday sparked reactions from every corner of our campus.

At a certain point, students were robbed of their peace of mind. Many members of our campus feel like their identities have been swept under the rug, while our leadership failed to issue satisfactory responses. Uncertainty has plagued our daily lives. As a community, we are yearning for consistency and reliability.

When the complex and dramatic dealings of external politics are constantly cast onto campus discourse, it can be immeasurably exhausting. At the very least,

Penn students should not feel preoccupied by the kinds of calamities currently unfolding. We have so much else we could be worried about.

Our situation has much more significant implications beyond Penn, many of which are directly tied to student identities. With that in mind, the administrative challenges on campus should not be at the forefront of students’ concerns.

This moment in time likely feels completely surreal. It certainly does for me, at least. However, our lives are still moving at a swift pace. With final exams on the horizon and a new semester just around the corner, it’s crucial that the Penn community finds itself in a place where we can move forward, pushing farther away from hardship, distress, and turmoil. Shifting our focus away from chaos will allow for growth.

Whether you agree with the necessity of a leadership change or not, our state of affairs has been decided. Now, the only thing we can control is our own future.

That being said, Penn students should

move forward with an open mind and prepare themselves for a safe and restful winter break. This week, remember to protect your mental state as you cross the finish line of the semester.

I’ve been lucky enough to see the resilience and perseverance our campus is capable of. Despite the blowback, my peers have had the courage to advocate for what they believe in and continue to excel in their academic pursuits. With optimism, we will be able to start off strong for the spring semester. By embracing new leaders, we can encourage unity and the pursuit of an unimpaired student experience for next year.

In the meantime, I would encourage fellow students and their families to engage in some reflection. Mindfulness can be a powerful tool for recovery and relaxation. Work hard as you prepare for finals, but don’t be afraid to treat yourself or engage in your favorite hobby. Finding joy in seemingly insignificant parts of your day will help guide you toward a state of ease.

At any point, if you feel emotionally distressed and want to pursue professional mental health solutions, Student Health and Counseling is an available resource. Otherwise, check in on your friends, see how your acquaintances are doing, and take care of each other. We’ve all been through so much up to this point, so keep in mind how you can help yourself and those around you.

At home this holiday season, take time to appreciate your friends and family.

With resignations handed in, focus on what comes next: a chance to take time off and clear your head. Meanwhile, ongoing geopolitical concerns will continue to bring hardship to our community.

As you finish up your final exams and projects, take solace in the fact that our return next year should allow us to have a fresh start.

JACK LACKIS is a College first year studying political science from Kennesaw, GA. His email is jlakis@sas. upenn.edu.

THEDP.COM | THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN

OPINION 5

MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2023

The next Penn president should be a Penn alum ERIC’S EXPLANATION | The personal connection with the University can bolster leadership

PHOTO BY KIEN LAM

Judith Rodin, who served from 1994 to 2004, was Penn’s last president to also be an alumnus.

Growing up watching international soccer, it would always bother me when a country had a foreign coach.

All the players on the team had to be from the same country, so why didn’t the coach? I felt that foreign coaches did not have the same passion and care for the team, as did coaches from the same country. When there is a personal connection with a job, there is more of a desire for success.

As of Saturday afternoon on Dec. 9, Liz Magill had resigned as the president of Penn. Magill majored in history at Yale and later received her J.D. from the

University of Virginia Law School. After, she became a professor there and later a dean at Stanford Law School.

Prior to her time at Penn, she had no close connection to the University. As with domestic soccer coaches, I believe that having an alum as president would improve leadership. They would be able to relate more to the students and have a more personal connection to Penn.

Whenever I have had a professor who graduated from Penn, I felt that they could relate to the student experience and culture of the University. Whether it be them living in the high rises (although they had

different names back then according to my professor), or having stories to share about their time at Penn, I felt that they understood what it was like to be in my shoes at one point. Having a Penn president who understands the atmosphere of Penn as a student would benefit in their decision making. Penn’s pre-professional focus and huge emphasis on the financial world sets it apart from other Ivy League schools. Also, having a president who has called Philadelphia home before helps understand the location of the school better. Their knowledge of how Penn has changed over time and connecting their experience as a student with modern issues helps them to have a better idea what students today deal with, even if they attended Penn decades ago, In recent weeks, we have seen that many Penn alumni are passionate about their alma mater. They voice their opinions and want Penn to be run appropriately, whether you agree with their view or not, and care about the reputation of their university. Donations from alumni similarly show that they care about the school and how their donations enhance the student experience. This same energy should be held by the president.

By having this personal connection with the school, the presidency would seem less like a job and more like they are giving back to their alma mater.

Many top universities have alumni serving as president. Yale, Princeton, and the University of Chicago all have presidents who are alumni. When Paul Alivisatos, president of the University of Chicago, became president, “enthusiasm for his new role and his alma mater was evident. After relating early meetings with students and faculty and sharing reminiscences of Valois and the Shoreland, he paused to reflect on the possibilities

ahead.” As a returning alumnus, he remembered his time as a student and was excited to work with current students of his alma mater. Penn has an extensive network of over 290,000 alumni worldwide who are leaders in their respective fields. With so many impressive alumni, it should not be too hard to find a qualified alumnus to serve as president.

By no means does not graduating from Penn create an unsuccessful president. Former President Amy Gutmann did not graduate from Penn, but she still helped Penn increase the endowment by over $16 billion dollars and innovated Penn Medicine during the pandemic. That being said, when six out of the nine tenured presidents Penn has had did not graduate from Penn, it might be time for a change.

With the over $1.2 million dollar salary that comes with being president of Penn, the prestigious job has an even more prestigious pay, but the Penn presidency should not just be a job for a salary. This job should be taken seriously because the president’s actions impact the entire Penn community and garner national attention. The University’s reputation, student safety and experience, and alumni connections are all driven by the president’s actions. I hope that whoever is the next president of the University of Pennsylvania can connect with student issues and make sure every student can come here to learn. As we have seen in the last few weeks, the Penn president has a national audience and must do their best for the entire Penn community.

ERIC NAJERA is a College sophomore studying history from Rolling Meadows, IL. His email is najerae@sas.upenn.edu.

The castle’s crumbling; it’s time to rebuild LEXI’S TAKE | It’s time for transparency at Penn Another day, another front page news story for the University of Pennsylvania: “What to know about Elizabeth Magill, the Penn president who resigned.”

A top-of-the-page New York Times article citing a president’s resignation might be devastating for many schools. At Penn, however, bad press has been the status quo these last few years. In my tenure alone, Penn has made news for COVID-19 policies, silencing swimmers in light of concerns over their transgender teammate, the discovery of classified Biden administration documents, awful on-campus free speech rankings, and taking anonymous donations from Chinese adversaries.

Recent concerns over platforming antisemitic speakers and poorly executed Congressional testimony seem to just be icing on the cake.

While all of these issues span a wide array of academic, political, social, and cultural issues, they all share one thing in common. They stem from a lack of transparency and a principled commitment to dodgy public relations rather than academic freedom or student experience. During the pandemic, Penn should have been forthright about what epidemiological data was advising its decisions. While the controversy ensued over Lia Thomas’s swimming, they should have allowed studentathletes to express their frustrations over conditions in their locker room.

This lack of transparency became excruciatingly clear during the recent hearings when the president refused to acknowledge the lack of ideological diversity or the

hypocritical enforcement of “open expression principles”. The University has a trust problem, and rightfully so.

However, what the University administration has missed is that, as Alexander Hamilton famously said, “Those who stand for nothing, fall for anything.” It was only a matter of time before a castle with no foundation crumbled, and sadly for Liz Magill, she was the monarch leading the charge when it finally came down. Although the Bok-Magill administration was new, many of the problems we are currently seeing come to a head are ones they inherited from presidents and Board of Trustees chairs of old. Obviously, many of the aforementioned incidents started during Amy Gutman’s presidency, but Penn’s free speech problems date back to the 1990s during the “water buffalo incident” which resulted in the founding of FIRE. That said, I do think that this situation provides Penn with an extremely unique opportunity to take the criticism it is receiving and channel it into an era of principles and transparency in new leadership.

For starters, Penn needs to make very clear what it stands for on issues of free speech. The best, and most direct, way to do this would be for Penn to adopt the Chicago principles (also known as the Chicago Statement).

This statement expresses a clear, absolute, and direct commitment to open expression no matter how controversial the issue, or what external factors are at play.

It was initially conceived at the University of Chicago

hence its name, and has since been adopted by many of our peer institutions including Princeton, Vanderbilt, and Georgetown. Notably absent from this list are both Harvard and Penn.

This adoption cannot take place in a vacuum, however. The University needs to be forthcoming about its tenuous relationship with free speech in the past. Rep. Banks addressed this in the congressional hearing citing the de-platforming of Trump ICE Director Thomas Homan and investigations into Amy Wax. The next administration should clearly outline to the community the difficulties in regulating hate speech, as demonstrated by recent events. Since delineations of what constitutes “hate speech” can vary depending on who you are talking to, creating guidelines that imply it will be restricted on campus leaves us open to questions like those posed by Rep. Stefanik.

To be clear, as I expressed in a column earlier this semester, I am deeply troubled by the rampant antisemitism abounding on campus. The last few weeks have proven that those in power will only regulate speech when it is to their political convenience.

Going forward, the University needs to adopt a true stance of institutional neutrality. This means not putting out statements on any political issue, no matter how much of the student body may agree with the University’s position. As has been left out of most of the dialogue on recent events, donors like Marc Rowan weren’t simply upset because the University hadn’t responded quickly enough to

the Oct. 7 attacks, but because they had no hesitation when putting out responses on any other hosts of issues.

This vexation is reasonable when there are so many examples of unequivocal condemnation on the part of the University over issues like Roe v. Wade’s reversal and the death of George Floyd. But should this just be a furious race to put out the most aggressive issue that will please the most students and donors? That doesn’t seem like a viable way to run a University, and recent events have proved as such.

Justice Louis Brandeis once said, “Sunlight is said to be the best disinfectant. If the broad light of day could be let in upon men’s actions, it would purify them as the sun disinfects.” He discussed this originally in the context of transparency, but it has often been invoked by advocates of free speech to express why discussing problematic and hateful ideas out in the open is the best way to rid our society of them. I think that in the case of Penn, this shows just how effective an apolitical commitment to free speech and honesty on the part of our next administration can be in quelling the on-campus divisiveness.

As we look to crown our next head of state at Penn, let’s rebuild having learned from our mistakes. Here’s to welcoming in an era of transparency and open expression.

LEXI BOCCUZZI is a College senior studying philosophy, politics, and economics from Stamford, Conn. Her email is boccuzzi@ thedp.com.

How to fire an Ivy League president THE DEVIL’S ADVOCATE | A step-by-step guide for how to ask questions when you don’t care about the answers Dear readers, Given that some of you in the future will undoubtedly be ultra-rich donors, congresspeople, or just generally interested in pressing your thumb on the scale for one reason or another, I wanted to provide you with a guide for how to fire an Ivy League president. A new precedent has been set through practically forcing the ninth president of Penn, Elizabeth Magill, to resign, so it is important that you learn how easy it is.

While I may not know much, given my education at Penn has been allegedly infected by “intellectual and moral rot” over the past semester, clearly I must be an expert on at least this much, so allow me to provide you with some advice.

Step 1) Assert your own, non–standard meaning of words.

It is highly important that, in the weeks and months building up to you demanding resignation or removal of your Ivy League president, that you use contested or nonstandard language. The secret in this step is the simple knowledge that nobody is going to read most of what you say anyway, but they will pay attention to the soundbite that can come from it down the line. Representative Elise Stefanik provides a masterclass in how to do this. For example, in the now notorious Congressional hearing, she asserted that “intifada” (which literally means “shaking off” of Israeli occupation) means genocide. Regardless of your position on the issue, this understanding of the genocide is not standard with common definitions of the term.

Then, when you ask your president a question, they will be unable to answer it succinctly with the common linguistic understanding. It is even better if you can make them answer it under oath, so maybe they can perjure themself. Is this a bad faith way of asking questions? Of course! But you are asking questions without actually caring about the answers, so why would it matter?

Step 2) Ask yes or no questions with loaded premises.

The sky is blue, yes or no? Yes? Well, what about during a sunset or at night? Congratulations, you may have just perjured yourself.

Americans, especially Republicans, really like “moral clarity.” If you can break things down into a yes or no question, that is almost always a good idea, but the key is to ask a yes or no question while making it impossible to give a yes or no answer. How do you do this? You load premises. The sky is sometimes blue, but make sure to act incredulous when you aren’t given a clear-cut answer

to your weighted question. Is the sky blue like right now?

On average? Never ask these questions; just make sure that how ever the question is answered that the answer is wrong.

Step 3) Presume the person you are talking to is guilty before speaking with them.

Regardless of how you try to get your Ivy League president fired, you aren’t going to be able to do it alone.

As a result, you need to signal to the people around you that you are right from the get–go. How do you do that?

Well, holding a hearing under the guise of finding out more information but really to get your witnesses to “atone” is a good start, but you might not be a congressperson. No matter — just make things up! You identify a decrease in a student population which is still overrepresented compared to American population averages? Just suggest it is evidence of systematic discrimination and ignore the fact that admissions are supposedly a zerosum game with otherwise rising diversity. Say things are causal without proof. Just remember — you just need to make people think your president is guilty before they have an opportunity to speak.

Step 4) Have a history of donating lots of money to your school of choice.

This money is of course not to help the students at your alma mater gain a better education. Your donations to the school are specifically so that it will be taken away as needed to influence school policy as you see fit in the future. The more money the better, but you can always pool your resources, which will be even easier to achieve if you convince other people by following the steps provided for you in this guide. Why does the money matter?

It matters because if you were just to put out a statement expressing your opinion, even if you are already on a Board, you wouldn’t get attention from nearly every major news agency in the United States, surging your voice to the front page and repeating any citation-less assertions you make.

Step 5) Assert the policies are bad (even if they haven’t changed).

Do you know when Harvard and Penn’s open expression policies were last updated? 1990 and 1993 respectively. Now you might think that would be a problem, since it means the policies haven’t changed in the last 30 years, which probably includes all of the time you spent at your respective Ivy League school. But that doesn’t matter because what you have to realize is that nobody is actually going to read the policies, which

PHOTO BY ETHAN YOUNG

Columnist Spencer Gibbs reflects on the circumstances leading up to the firing of Liz Magill.

means for all practical purposes, they say whatever you want them to say. You can always say that the policies are just not being properly enforced, especially if you have what is arguably a single mistake, but make sure you make the issue seem systematic, especially if you have beef with your school already and you are generally lacking specific evidence of a lack of discipline.

Step 6) Repeat the same points to make them come true.

One of the most valuable tools you have when making assertions is the knowledge that if you make them enough, they will become true, or at the very least true to the people you need to convince. This fact is called the “Illusory Truth effect” and has been used successfully by politicians for years now, but the information age has done nothing to make it any less effective. It does not matter if your arguments are refutable. Make assertions like “How can a University cultivate free speech in any meaningful way if it has taken a stance on every political issue under the sun?,” and even if the answer seems obvious — like having open expression guidelines that allow for speech that the University disagrees with — if you ask that “rhetorical” question enough times it will just be taken for granted that it is impossible.

Step 7) Cite the sources that say what you want (and don’t look at the methodologies).

Despite Step 6, it can still be useful to have the occasional spurts of apparent objectivity while asking bad questions, presuming guilt, making threats, blaming

foundational policies, and repeating yourself. Penn has some great classes that can help you learn how to lie with statistics while you’re still here, but in case you have a busy schedule, you can always just cite another source. In the lead up to Magill’s resignation, the FIRE free speech rankings were an often cited, yet highly contested, way of demonstrating some so-called objectivity — mentioned at least four times in the Congressional hearing. Rankings like this are perfect since they inherently objectify otherwise subjective sentiments, but you can always just have unsupported anecdotes and quotes without citations as evidence, too.

Let me be very clear. This guide is not a critique of legitimate concerns about the rise of antisemitism or Islamophobia on campus, contest of claims about a need for ideological diversity, condemnation of those who have accrued wealth, or statement on whether or not I agree that former President Magill should have personally resigned. It is only a guide for how to fire an Ivy League president, since we have now opened the doors for the sways of public opinion to influence academia for many years down the line. Don’t worry, though. I’m sure, if you follow these steps, your voice will be far louder than all the rest.

SPENCER GIBBS is a College and Engineering junior studying philosophy, politics, and economics and systems engineering from Tallahassee, Fla. His email is sgibb25@upenn.edu.

IN PHOTOS NO. 31

THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN • MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2023

VOL. CXXXIX

Liz Magill’s 16-month presidency, from confirmation to resignation

ANNA VAZHAEPARAMBIL AND ABHIRAM JUVVADI Photo Editor and News Photo Editor

Facing widespread national scrutiny and intensifying calls for her resignation throughout the fall semester, Penn President Liz Magill announced on Dec. 9 that she would step down after being in office for only 16 months. Her tenure will be the shortest of any permanent University president in Penn’s history and one marked by heightened levels of student activism on campus. Magill is also the first Penn president to resign beyond a government appointment.

See how The Daily Pennsylvanian’s photographers documented Magill’s presidency, from her official confirmation to the Congressional hearing that preceded her resignation.

Photos by Sukhmani Kaur, Jesse Zhang, Anna Vazhaeparambil, Abhiram Juvvadi, Eddy Marenco

The Penn community celebrated Magill’s official confirmation in a procession down Locust Walk on March 4, 2022.

Days after Magill officially took office on July 1, 2022, she hosted an ice cream social event on College Green on July 5.

Magill’s first-ever Convocation speech, addressed to members of the Class of 2026, was interrupted by over 100 protesters who began chanting “Save UC Townhomes!” and “Stop Penntrification!” on Aug. 29, 2022.

Magill welcomed over 2,500 first-year and transfer students to Penn on Aug. 23, 2022, as they moved into on-campus housing.

Magill hosted the first meeting of the Red and Blue Advisory Committee on Oct. 12, 2022, part of her initiative to inform the University’s strategic framework over the next century.

Magill welcomed United States Ambassador to Germany Amy Gutmann to Germany Amy Gutmann at the naming ceremony of Gutmann College House on Feb. 2.

Magill led a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the ARCH building reopening to the Penn community on Sept. 7, 2022, following months of renovations.

Magill hosted a “fireside chat” with faculty representatives from each of Penn’s four undergraduate schools during the University’s annual Family Weekend from Oct. 27-29.

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Penn inaugurated Magill as its ninth president on Oct. 21, 2022, formally commencing her tenure in a day of festivities and traditions.

In the nearly five-hour-long hearing of the United States House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Magill and two other university presidents fielded questions about Jewish student safety and the boundaries of free speech on campus.

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