Liz Magill had testified before a House committee that it wouldn't necessarily violate the Ivy League school's policies to call for genocide against all Jews.
(December 9, 2023 / JNS) The homepage of the University of Pennsylvania website on Saturday all but flew the Ive League school’s coat of arms upside down.
A dull-blue banner atop the page declared “Supporting our community in times of crisis” and linked to another page quoting Penn president Liz Magill: “We are all members of the Penn community, and we all deserve to be heard and respected. But hateful speech has no place at Penn.”
That page also included university messages, a fact sheet, frequently-asked questions about free speech, community resources and a large red box containing “Penn’s action plan to combat antisemitism.”
Beneath the banner on the university homepage, a news section contained “A message to the Penn community” dated Dec. 9 announcing, from Penn board of trustees chair Scott Bok, that Magill “has voluntarily tendered her resignation as president of the University of Pennsylvania,” where she will remain as a tenured law professor.
Beside that message on the Penn homepage, a “message from Penn’s board of trustees executive committee,” also dated Dec. 9, announced that Julie Platt, who was previously vice chair of the Penn board of trustees, has been named interim chair of the board. “Due to her current commitment as board chair of the Jewish Federations of North America, Julie will only serve until a successor is appointed,” it added.
“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 of the board wrote.
The message didn’t specify why Platt received the temporary promotion, but the Daily Pennsylvanian, the university’s student paper, reported that Bok stepped down as board chair “minutes” after Magill resigned.