University of Pennsylvania’s Board of Trustees held an “emergency meeting” on Thursday — just one day after Governor Josh Shapiro (D-PA) blasted Penn President Elizabeth Magill over her “absolutely shameful” comments on Capitol Hill.
According to a report published Thursday by CNN, the board met virtually after being called to convene on Wednesday, just hours after Shapiro weighed in on Magill’s testimony regarding anti-Semitism on her campus.
Magill became the subject of intense scrutiny following her answers to questions from Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) over whether or not students calling for the genocide of Jews were in violation of Penn’s code of conduct with regard to harassment and bullying. Magill said that such speech was not punished at Penn unless it “turns into conduct,” and argued that “context” was necessary.
Shapiro was not impressed by Magill’s comments, telling Jewish Insider, “The simple answer is yes, that violates our policy.”
“Leaders have a responsibility to speak and act with moral clarity, and Liz Magill failed to meet that simple test. That was an unacceptable statement from the president of Penn,” Shapiro continued. “Frankly, I thought her comments were absolutely shameful. It should not be hard to condemn genocide.”
Shapiro went on to say that he had spoken to Magill in the weeks since the October 7 massacre — and that he had made specific suggestions and recommendations regarding steps the school could take to make sure that Jewish students felt safer.
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“They have seemingly failed every step of the way to take concrete action to make sure all students feel safe on campus. And then the testimony yesterday took it to the next level,” Shapiro added.
He called for the university’s board of trustees to convene, saying that he believed it was necessary to explore whether Magill accurately “represents the views and values of the University of Pennsylvania,” but adding that he was prepared to wait for the board to take action.