Penn President Liz Magill Resigns Days After Anti-Semitism Investigation: NPR

University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill speaks during a House Committee on Education hearing on Capitol Hill on Dec. 5.

Mark Schiefelbein/AP

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Mark Schiefelbein/AP

University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill speaks during a House Committee on Education hearing on Capitol Hill on Dec. 5.

Mark Schiefelbein/AP

Liz Magill, the president of the University of Pennsylvania, resigned Saturday — days after her congressional testimony on anti-Semitism drew a fierce backlash from students, faculty and donors.

Scott L. Bogue, chairman of the university’s board of trustees, announced the decision In a letter to the school community.

“It is my privilege to serve as president of this remarkable institution. It is an honor to work with our faculty, students, staff, alumni and community members to advance Penn’s mission,” Magill said in a statement. Letter of departure.

Magill will serve as interim president until a new person is appointed, he said. Mahil will also be a faculty member at Ben Carey Law.

According to Bogue, the university will share details about the interim leadership “in the coming days.”

On Wednesday, the leaders of McGill and Harvard and MIT testified before Congress about how they protect students from anti-Semitism on their campuses. Criticism soon arose about how university leaders responded to a question about whether “calling for the genocide of the Jews” violated the university’s code of conduct.

After Magill’s comments, six members of Congress from Pennsylvania sent a letter to the school’s board of trustees asking for Magill’s resignation. Rose Stevens, a hedge fund manager, threatened to receive a $100 million donation from the University of Pennsylvania.

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Concerns about Mahil’s leadership had been growing for months — even before war broke out between Israel and Hamas. In September, there was Mag Criticized For an event on campus, they invited speakers with a history of anti-Semitic ideas and behavior. The event, which focuses on celebrating Palestinian culture, was scheduled to end just before the start of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.

NPR’s Sequoia Carrillo contributed reporting.