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University of Pennsylvania President Elizabeth Magill, and the chairman of the board of trustees, Scott L. Bok, have both resigned after intense pressure from alumni, donors and members of Congress.
Magill was hounded from office after a disastrous performance at a congressional hearing on antisemitism on American college campuses.
At the hearing, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik bored in on Magill’s equivocations, trying to elicit a clear response to a question about antisemitism.
“Calling for the genocide of Jews,” Ms. Stefanik asked, “does that constitute bullying or harassment?”
Ms. Magill replied, “If it is directed and severe, pervasive, it is harassment.”
Ms. Stefanik responded, “So the answer is yes.”
Ms. Magill said, “It is a context-dependent decision, congresswoman.”
Ms. Stefanik exclaimed: “That’s your testimony today? Calling for the genocide of Jews is depending upon the context?”
Yes, it was that bad.
Even worse, Mr. Bok tried to defend Magill, claiming the president was “worn down” by her job.
“Worn down by months of relentless external attacks, she was not herself last Tuesday,” he wrote. “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. It made for a dreadful 30-second sound bite in what was more than five hours of testimony.
