Former ESPN host Keith Olbermann clashed with Riley Gaines this week following the University of Pennsylvania’s decision to strip trans-identifying male swimmer Lia Thomas of his program records.
Olbermann called Gaines “whiny” in an X post on Tuesday after the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights announced its agreement with UPenn.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Wanted to congratulate Whiny Gaines on now being able to say she finished tied for FOURTH not tied for FIFTH in the Lia Thomas race (<a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Riley_Gaines_</a>)
&mdash; Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) <a href="https://twitter.com/KeithOlbermann/status/1940215159034941516?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
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“Wanted to congratulate Whiny Gaines on now being able to say she finished tied for FOURTH not tied for FIFTH in the Lia Thomas race,” he wrote.
Thomas, who is biologically male, was the first trans-identifying swimmer to win an NCAA Division I title, setting multiple school records and tying for fifth place with Gaines in the 200-yard freestyle event at the 2022 NCAA Division I Women&#8217;s Swimming and Diving Championships. Since then, Gaines has actively spoken against biological men competing in women’s sports.
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“Thank you!” Gaines shot back in a reply to Olbermann. “And while you’re keeping track, make sure to congratulate Emma Weyant, the right National Champ in the 500 freestyle, too.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Thank you! And while you’re keeping track, make sure to congratulate Emma Weyant, the right National Champ in the 500 freestyle, too. 
(If you&#39;re insinuating 5th in the nation is bad, what do you call a man who ranks 462nd nationally in the men&#39;s category?) <a href="https://t.co/liCRPraFQD">https://t.co/liCRPraFQD</a>
&mdash; Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_/status/1940224425485537588?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Emma Weyant finished in second place behind Thomas in the 500 freestyle at the 2022 NCAA swimming championship.
She added, “If you&#8217;re insinuating 5th in the nation is bad, what do you call a man who ranks 462nd nationally in the men&#8217;s category?”
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning men from competing in women’s sports. The NCAA updated its gender eligibility policies in compliance with the administration.
UPenn President J. Larry Jameson <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/sports/riley-gaines-clashes-keith-olbermann-after-upenn-strips-lia-thomas-program-records?intcmp=tw_fnc&amp;taid=686554021cab570001444d27&amp;utm_campaign=trueanthem&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter">said</a> the university plans to “fully comply” with both Title IX and the NCAA’s new policies.
“The University will not – on the basis of sex – exclude female students from participation in, deny female students the benefits of, or subject female students to discrimination under, any athletics programs,” Jameson said. “In addition, in providing to female student-athletes intimate facilities such as locker rooms and bathrooms in connection with Penn Athletics, such facilities shall be strictly separated on the basis of sex and comparably provided to each sex.”

Photo courtesy of Riley Gaines

Riley Gaines Fires Back After Ex-ESPN Host Mocks Her Advocacy For Women

Keith Olbermann

Lia Thomas

Politics

Riley Gaines

Social Issues

Transgender Athletes

University of Pennsylvania

Former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines thanked President Donald Trump for defending women in sports and for bringing about a deal that resulted in the University of Pennsylvania apologizing for the damage wrought by its decision to allow a trans-identifying male swimmer to compete as a member of its women&#8217;s team.
The agreement also saw Lia (formerly William) Thomas stripped of medals and the records returned to the women who had rightfully earned them — including Gaines, who famously tied with Thomas for fifth place in the 200 freestyle at the 2022 NCAA Championships.
&#8220;UPenn has agreed to right its wrongs, restore records to the rightful female athletes, and issue an apology to the women impacted by the man they allowed to compete as a woman. Are pigs flying? God bless @realDonaldTrump,&#8221; Gaines wrote in a post on X.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
UPenn has agreed to right its wrongs, restore records to the rightful female athletes, and issue an apology to the women impacted by the man they allowed to compete as a woman.
Are pigs flying?
God bless <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a>. <a href="https://t.co/PZxcieyp7m">pic.twitter.com/PZxcieyp7m</a>
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_/status/1940187628021694922?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2025</a></blockquote>
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But even as Gaines was thanking Trump for his administration&#8217;s efforts to protect women in athletics, others were pointing out the fact that if Gaines herself had not been one of the first to take a stand — to protect herself and other women and girls — that the result she saw on Tuesday might never have been realized.
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&#8220;UPenn caves after federal investigation into Lia Thomas, and will now enforce Trump’s mandate to BAN men from women’s sports. This is a major win for women everywhere. And it wouldn’t have happened without Riley Gaines. She fought hard and now the tide is turning,&#8221; conservative podcast host Benny Johnson posted.
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UPenn caves after federal investigation into Lia Thomas, and will now enforce Trump’s mandate to BAN men from women’s sports.
This is a major win for women everywhere. And it wouldn’t have happened without Riley Gaines. She fought hard and now the tide is turning. 👊🏻🔥 <a href="https://t.co/rlkgdvIWEz">pic.twitter.com/rlkgdvIWEz</a>
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) <a href="https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1940165174364876875?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Paula Scanlan, a teammate of Thomas&#8217; at UPenn, spoke out even after being told by school officials to simply shut up and swim. She credits Gaines with helping her to take a stand.
&#8220;I wanted to take a quick moment to thank @Riley_Gaines_. She’s become the teammate I wish I had in college. I was silenced, bullied and unsupported by my teammates and my university. Today and everyday, I’m grateful for our friendship and how much she’s helped me grow,&#8221; Scanlan posted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I wanted to take a quick moment to thank <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Riley_Gaines_</a>
She’s become the teammate I wish I had in college. I was silenced, bullied and unsupported by my teammates and my university.
Today and everyday, I’m grateful for our friendship and how much she’s helped me grow ❤️ <a href="https://t.co/u1RljDLuue">pic.twitter.com/u1RljDLuue</a>
— Paula Scanlan (@PaulaYScanlan) <a href="https://twitter.com/PaulaYScanlan/status/1940217285819691464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Former champion gymnast and XX-XY Athletics founder Jennifer Sey added, &#8220;UPenn rescinded all of the accolades given to Will Thomas because we have FREEDOM OF SPEECH in the US. @PaulaYScanlan @Riley_Gaines_ @xx_xyathletics and many others spoke out about the injustice. It made a difference in the end. Happy independence day (sic)!&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
UPenn rescinded all of the accolades given to Will Thomas because we have FREEDOM OF SPEECH in the US. <a href="https://twitter.com/PaulaYScanlan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PaulaYScanlan</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Riley_Gaines_</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/xx_xyathletics?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@xx_xyathletics</a> and many others spoke out about the injustice.
It made a difference in the end.
Happy independence day! 🇺🇸 <a href="https://t.co/tqpOu7dzsO">pic.twitter.com/tqpOu7dzsO</a>
— Jennifer Sey (@JenniferSey) <a href="https://twitter.com/JenniferSey/status/1940417391495684602?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;It’s wild that there is a percentage of people brainwashed by their religion (liberalism) to believe it’s &#8216;evil&#8217; to stop people w/ testicles from violating women &amp; dominating their sports. Anyway, shoutout @Riley_Gaines_ for trailblazing on this issue when it was unpopular,&#8221; Jason Howerton added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
It’s wild that there is a percentage of people brainwashed by their religion (liberalism) to believe it’s “evil” to stop people w/ testicles from violating women &amp; dominating their sports.
Anyway, shoutout <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Riley_Gaines_</a> for trailblazing on this issue when it was unpopular <a href="https://t.co/8eu3d4q3mC">pic.twitter.com/8eu3d4q3mC</a>
— Jason Howerton (@jason_howerton) <a href="https://twitter.com/jason_howerton/status/1940233088011051510?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
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NCAA SWIMMING: MAR 18 Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships

‘Are Pigs Flying?’: Riley Gaines Praises Trump As UPenn Strips Records From Trans Swimmer

‘Are Pigs Flying?’: Riley Gaines Praises Trump As UPenn Strips Records, Titles From Trans Swimmer

Donald Trump

Executive

NCAA

Women's sports

Women's Swimming

WASHINGTON—The White House has struck a deal with the University of Pennsylvania that requires the school to strip trans-identifying male swimmer Lia Thomas of the titles he won on the women&#8217;s team, The Daily Wire has learned.
The University of Pennsylvania will restore all titles to female athletes that were &#8220;misappropriated&#8221; by male athletes, according to a landmark agreement between the Trump administration and the University of Pennsylvania, a White House official shared with The Daily Wire.
Thomas competed as a female swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania, infamously tying with University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines in 2022 at the NCAAs and taking her trophy — prompting Gaines to take a stand against men in women&#8217;s sports.
&#8220;President Trump has been one of the strongest and most consistent champions for protecting women’s sports,&#8221; the White House official shared. &#8220;Under his leadership, the administration has taken decisive action — through executive orders, public messaging, and policy initiatives — to affirm a simple truth: men do not belong in women’s sports.&#8221;
&#8220;In stark contrast, the University of Pennsylvania has repeatedly violated the spirit and letter of Title IX by allowing biological males to compete in women’s athletic programs — undermining decades of progress and the hard-earned achievements of female athletes,&#8221; the official added.
Under the new agreement, the school is promising to comply with Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination in schools that receive federal funding.
The University of Pennsylvania will not allow males to compete in female sports or use female &#8220;intimate facilities&#8221; and will adopt &#8220;biology-based definitions&#8221; for &#8220;male&#8221; and &#8220;female&#8221; that comply with Trump&#8217;s executive orders on the issue.
The school will also send a &#8220;personalized letter of apology to each impacted female swimmer,&#8221; according to the agreement.
Gaines is one of the female athletes who could receive a letter. She spoke at a White House event on Thursday celebrating the agreement, along with several other female athletes who competed with trans-identifying males.
Shortly after Trump took office, the NCAA, which governs sports for more than half a million college athletes, <a href="https://www.ncaa.org/news/2025/2/6/media-center-ncaa-announces-transgender-student-athlete-participation-policy-change.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">changed</a> its transgender athlete policy to “limit competition in women’s sports to student-athletes assigned female at birth only.”
However, the Trump administration continues to pressure several blue states that still allow trans-identifying males in women&#8217;s sports.
Last week, the Department of Education <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/department-of-education-says-california-violated-title-ix-threatens-legal-action">announced</a> that California was officially in violation of Title IX because the state allows men to compete in women’s sports. The administration gave California 10 days to comply or face losing federal funds.

UPenn Agrees To Strip Medals From Lia Thomas As Part Of Sweeping White House Deal

White House Forces UPenn To Strip Lia Thomas' Medals He Won On Women's Team

As the Department of Education yanks $175 million of federal funding from the University of Pennsylvania for violating Title IX by allowing males into women’s sports, Secretary Linda McMahon should also consider cracking down on other, more common procedural violations of Title IX that have been routinely committed by colleges for over a decade: that is, violations against due process for students and faculty accused of sexual misconduct.
This status quo was created by the Obama Department of Education’s 2011 “Dear Colleague” letter, which gutted protections for the accused in the name of “victims’ rights,” under penalty of losing federal funding. The letter mandated that colleges use the “preponderance of evidence” standard — which only demands that the guilty be deemed over 50% likely to have committed misconduct — as opposed to the stronger “guilt beyond a reasonable doubt” standard employed in criminal trials in actual courts. It also allowed alleged victims to appeal the result of a disciplinary hearing — a form of double jeopardy otherwise barred by the legal system. Moreover, it discouraged cross-examination of victims, claiming this would “retraumatize” them, and enabled a single-investigator model, in which the person investigating the sexual misconduct claim would also adjudicate the sexual misconduct claim and decide as to whether or not the accused was guilty — giving the investigator the near absolute power to be “prosecutor, judge, and jury” at once, as the Foundation for Individual Rights and Education <a href="https://www.thefire.org/news/breaking-new-title-ix-regulations-undermine-campus-free-speech-and-due-process-rights" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> it.
Having received Obama’s memo, colleges went above and beyond — the Constitution, that is: even after President Trump took office for the first time and then-Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos rescinded the Obama-era “Dear Colleague” letter in 2017, colleges kept their kangaroo courts — and began to be taken to court themselves. In two notable cases, federal courts determined that accused students at the <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/09/26/us-appeals-court-finds-student-accused-sexual-assault-was-denied-due-process" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Cincinnati</a> and the <a href="https://www.thefire.org/news/court-holds-university-michigan-administrators-personally-liable-violating-students-due" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Michigan</a> had their constitutional rights to due process violated. Per a 2019 <a href="https://nyujlpp.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Harris-Johnson-Campus-Courts-in-Court-22-nyujlpp-49.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> by Samantha Harris and K.C. Johnson, over 500 lawsuits were filed by accused students in the post-2011 period; 340 lawsuits went to federal court; colleges lost over 90 federal decisions; and colleges chose to settle over 70 lawsuits out of court before a decision could be made. This was around the peak of #MeToo and #BelieveAllWomen: in that cultural moment, anyone accused of sexual misconduct was essentially presumed guilty until proven innocent, a horrible inversion of the American rule of law.
Eventually, in 2020, DeVos established a rule ensuring Title IX proceedings would respect due process and treat both accuser and accused fairly. Because DeVos used the rulemaking process, rather than ruling by “Dear Colleague” fiat as her predecessor did, her decision was harder to reverse by the Biden administration. As a result, the Biden rule came toward the end of his administration in 2024, and, thanks to the administration’s overreaching attempt to rewrite Title IX to include “gender identity,” was immediately caught up in federal injunctions and barely implemented by the time Trump took office a second time and officially brought back the DeVos rule. That means that despite the change in administrations and attempted changes to Title IX by Biden, most colleges have been subject to the DeVos rule for most of the past five years.
Nevertheless, <a href="https://x.com/kcjohnson9/status/1893051067799060764" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lawsuits</a> over the past several years have continued to be filed by accused students and faculty alleging that their colleges treated them unfairly in Title IX proceedings. Just this month, the Fourth Circuit <a href="https://www.carolinajournal.com/expelled-unc-student-can-pursue-reinstatement-not-money-in-federal-suit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruled</a> in favor of an accused student at the University of North Carolina, noting that due process, live hearings, and cross-examination are crucial in Title IX proceedings. The persistence of lawsuits from the accused suggests that colleges are still not treating the accused fairly, and, as a result, are not only potentially disciplining, expelling, and firing perfectly innocent people — mostly men — they are also undermining the validity of all allegations, which makes it more difficult for real victims — mostly women — to be taken seriously.
College bureaucrats act this way in part because they are concerned with their own interests first: the #MeToo zeitgeist of yesterday still has them convinced that the fallout from blatantly unconstitutional proceedings will be less damaging to them than the possibility of activists calling them “rape apologists” for treating accused students and faculty with fairness. The Department of Education can change this calculus by stripping federal funds from every institution violating the rights of the accused. Only harsh federal action and the potential for penalties where it hurts will show colleges that they will suffer more for presuming guilt and holding unfair proceedings than they will for presuming innocence and treating both parties fairly, as the American rule of law demands.
On a more human note, colleges are often the places where young men and young women form their opinions of the world and of each other. Especially at a time when relations between the sexes are <a href="https://www.economist.com/international/2024/03/13/why-the-growing-gulf-between-young-men-and-women" target="_blank" rel="noopener">souring</a>, it is crucial that colleges be expected to follow the law if they are to continue to be entrusted with taxpayer dollars.
* * *
Neeraja Deshpande is a policy analyst and engagement coordinator at Independent Women.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Views Of Yale University As Ivy League Pay Soars

‘Prosecutor, Judge, And Jury’: Why Campus Kangaroo Courts Should Lose Federal Funding

'Prosecutor, Judge, And Jury': Why Campus Kangaroo Courts Should Lose Federal Funding

American Universities

Betsy DeVos

College

Department of Education

Due Process

Education

Obama Administration

Opinion

Title IX

University of Michigan

An affiliate of Pennsylvania State University was hit with a federal civil rights complaint on Tuesday alleging that scholarship opportunities discriminated against white and male students on the basis of their race and sex.
The Equal Opportunity Project hit the Pennsylvania College of Technology, an affiliate of the Pennsylvania State University, over 12 different scholarships, including some that require applicants to be “a racial or ethnic minority,” “female,” or considered “previously marginalized” on account of their identities.
“Creating educational opportunities based on race, color, national origin, or sex violates Titles VI and IX of the Civil Rights Act, as well as Pennsylvania law,” said William A. Jacobson, the founder of the Equal Protection Project. “Such race-and sex-based scholarships also violate Penn Tech&#8217;s own non-discrimination policies. We are asking Penn Tech to live up to the law and its own rules, and remove the discriminatory eligibility barriers it has erected.”
The university’s Cahir Family Renaissance Scholarship only accepts applicants who “have been previously marginalized by racial, ethnic, socio-economic, gender, or other adversities,” while the “Start to Finish Minority Scholarship” tells applicants that they must be “a racial or ethnic minority.” Other scholarships named in the federal complaint only accept female applicants.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-901107 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-01-at-12.10.22-PM-300x134.png" alt="" width="708" height="316" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-01-at-12.10.22-PM-300x134.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-01-at-12.10.22-PM-1024x458.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-01-at-12.10.22-PM-768x343.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-01-at-12.10.22-PM.png 1222w" sizes="(max-width: 708px) 100vw, 708px" /></div>
“Racial, ethnic, and sex discrimination is wrong and unlawful no matter which race, ethnicity, or sex is targeted or benefits. All applicants are entitled to equal treatment without regard to race, color, national origin, or sex,” Jacobson charged. “It does not matter what schools call it — &#8216;anti-racism&#8217; or &#8216;diversity, equity, and inclusion,&#8217; or something else — what matters is that no measure of discrimination based on race, color, or national origin is permitted.”
The complaint comes after the Trump administration <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-investigating-more-than-50-universities-for-anti-white-anti-asian-discrimination">launched investigations</a> into more than 50 universities that allegedly engaged in anti-white and anti-Asian discrimination, including Vanderbilt, Yale, New York University, Notre Dame, Duke, and Georgetown.
Most of the 52 institutions under investigation face scrutiny over their involvement in the PhD Project, which the Education Department described as “an organization that purports to provide doctoral students with insights into obtaining a Ph.D. and networking opportunities, but limits eligibility based on the race of participants.” Other colleges are under investigation for allegedly awarding discriminatory, race-based scholarships.

Graduation cap

Pennsylvania College Hit With Federal Complaint Over Anti-White, Anti-Male Scholarships

Academia

Courts

Discrimination

Diversity

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Pennsylvania

Racial Discrimination

U.S.

Three former University of Pennsylvania women’s swimmers have filed a lawsuit over biological males being allowed to use female locker rooms and participate in their competitions.
The students, who have since graduated, filed the lawsuit on Tuesday against their university, Harvard University, the Ivy League Council of Presidents, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The lawsuit is based on their experience with teammate Lia Thomas, a former male swimmer who started identifying as a woman and dominating female competitions.
The lawsuit, filed by Grace Estabrook, Margo Kaczorowski, and Ellen Holmquist, with <a href="https://iconswomen.com/take-on-the-ivy-league/">support</a> from the Independent Council on Women&#8217;s Sports (ICONS), was <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/sports/former-lia-thomas-teammates-sue-ivy-league-ncaa-alleging-aggressive-push-pro-trans-ideology" target="_blank" rel="noopener">provided exclusively</a> to Fox News and has been reviewed by The Daily Wire. The women are seeking damages for “pain and suffering, mental and emotional distress, suffering and anxiety, expenses costs” and more for the institutions allowing Thomas and other trans-identifying men into women&#8217;s spaces and competitions, which they say violated their rights under Title IX. Title IX is a federal statute that prohibits discrimination based on sex, and was initially created to ensure women have equal opportunities for sports.
But over the past decade, schools have allowed biological men to self-identify into women’s sports, taking <a href="https://kfoxtv.com/news/nation-world/un-study-reveals-transgender-athletes-have-won-nearly-900-medals-in-womens-competitions-united-nations-sports-lgbt-gender-identity-title-ix-athletics" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hundreds of medals</a> from women.
The three women now suing have argued that being forced to change clothes in front of Thomas, who still has male genitalia, left them “repeatedly emotionally traumatized.” It can take around 30 minutes for a competitive swimmer to get into their skintight swimsuits, meaning the women had to spend at least that much time in a vulnerable position in front of a biological man, who was also changing.
&#8220;The UPenn administrators told the women that if anyone was struggling with accepting Thomas’s participation on the UPenn Women’s team, they should seek counseling and support from [UPenn’s student wellness center] and the LBGTQ center,” the lawsuit says.
&#8220;The administrators also invited the women to a talk titled, ‘Trans 101.’ Thus, the women were led to understand that UPenn’s position was that if a woman on the team had any problem with a trans-identifying male being on her team that woman had a psychological problem and needed counseling,” the lawsuit added.
The former swimmers also allege that the administrators told them not to publicly speak out about the situation, or risk consequences.
&#8220;The UPenn administrators went on to tell the women that if the women spoke publicly about their concerns about Thomas’ participation on the Women’s Team, the reputation of those complaining about Thomas being on the team would be tainted with transphobia for the rest of their lives and they would probably never be able to get a job,’&#8221; the lawsuit says.
The women are suing Harvard as well as UPenn because Harvard hosted the NCAA women’s championship, where Thomas won the 500-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard freestyle, and 400-yard freestyle relay as a senior.
Thomas has continued to fight to be allowed to compete against biological women, even attempting to be allowed to compete in elite women’s races post-college, but a legal challenge was denied last year, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lia-thomas-loses-legal-battle-over-rules-preventing-trans-identifying-swimmers-from-competing-in-elite-womens-races" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
On Wednesday, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/president-trump-to-sign-executive-to-keep-men-out-of-womens-sports" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed an executive order</a> to keep biological men out of women’s sports.

2022 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship

Former UPenn Women’s Swimmers Suing School, NCAA For Allowing Biological Men In Women’s Sports

Former UPenn Women’s Swimmers Suing School, NCAA For Allowing Biological Men In Women's Sports

Lawsuit

Transgender

transgender athlete

Transgenders

Pennsylvania GOP legislators <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/gop-lawmakers-sink-aid-to-penn-as-statehouses-watch-universities-handle-israel-hamas-war/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blocked</a> millions of dollars in funding for the University of Pennsylvania’s veterinary school in the wake of the university’s tepid response to anti-Semitism on its campus.
The vote in the Pennsylvania House was taken four days after Penn President Liz Magill — harshly criticized for her testimony at a congressional hearing where she said calling for the genocide of Jews would not violate the school&#8217;s code of conduct on bullying and harassment unless &#8220;the speech turns into conduct” — resigned.
“Until more is done at the university in terms of rooting out, calling out and making an official stance on antisemitism being against the values of the university, I cannot in good conscience support this funding,” GOP House Minority Leader Bryan Cutler stated in opposing the $33.5 million in funding for the University of Pennsylvania’s veterinary school.
Magill’s resignation was not enough for the university to pursue if it wanted to confront anti-Semitism, Cutler, who was formerly the speaker of the House when it was controlled by the GOP, added.
Cutler, a religious Baptist, <a href="https://www.repcutler.com/about" target="_blank" rel="noopener">took care</a> of his younger sister and parents when he was a high school student and both his parents were diagnosed with ALS, which later took their lives.
Every Democrat voted for the funding — which represents 18% of the budget for the veterinary school — while 76 out of the 101 Republicans in the House opposed it, leaving the funding short of gaining the required two-thirds majority.
Even before Magill’s remarks, major donors pulled their funding from the university over its stance in the Israel-Hamas war. Within a week after the October 7 Hamas massacre of 1,200 Israelis, Apollo Management CEO Marc Rowan, a Penn graduate who donated $50 million to the business school in 2018, <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/10/11/apollo-ceo-marc-rowan-demands-upenn-leaders-resign-over-failure-to-condemn-hamas-terror/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">demanded</a> Magill and Scott Bok, chair of the board of trustees, resign. “I call on all UPenn alumni and supporters who believe we are heading in the wrong direction to ‘Close their Checkbooks&#8217;” until the two resigned, he wrote.
Days later, former Republican presidential candidate, Utah Governor, and U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman Jr. told the University of Pennsylvania that the Huntsman Foundation — which has donated tens of millions of dollars to the university for decades — would <a href="https://www.thedp.com/article/2023/10/penn-jon-huntsman-jr-wharton-halts-donations-magill" target="_blank" rel="noopener">halt its funding</a> because of the university’s silence in the face of the evil perpetrated by Hamas.
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Huntsman, a 1987 Penn graduate, served on the University&#8217;s Board of Trustees from 1996 to 2001. His father, Jon Huntsman Sr., graduated from Penn in 1959, donated $10 million to fund the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business, and donated $40 million in 1998.
&#8220;Moral relativism has fueled the university’s race to the bottom and sadly now has reached a point where remaining impartial is no longer an option,&#8221; Huntsman Jr. said in an email to Penn President Liz Magill.
“The University’s silence in the face of reprehensible and historic Hamas evil against the people of Israel (when the only response should be outright condemnation) is a new low,” Huntsman wrote. “Silence is antisemitism, and antisemitism is hate, the very thing higher ed was built to obviate. Consequently, Huntsman Foundation will close its checkbook on all future giving to Penn — something that has been a source of enormous pride for now three generations of graduates. that his family will stop donating to Penn, stripping the University of a longtime donor amid backlash from influential trustees and alumni. My siblings join me in this rebuke.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-u-s-ambassador-jon-huntsman-halts-millions-in-funding-from-penn-over-its-response-to-hamas-attacks">Former U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman Halts Millions In Funding From Penn Over Its Response To Hamas Attacks</a>

University Of Pennsylvania Sued By Students Claiming Antisemitism On Campus

Pennsylvania GOP Blocks Funding For UPenn For Allowing Anti-Semitism On Campus

Anti-Semitism

Funding

Veterinary

Many today have a greater interest in the perception of virtue through diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) narratives rather than making a real, tangible impact on improving the lives of others. This is particularly true on college campuses. The support for Claudine Gay at Harvard highlights the insulating powers of DEI, as President Gay fits into the “oppressed” role within the DEI framework, despite attending both an elitist high school and college in Exeter and Stanford respectively. This position of being among the “oppressed” gives her great power. In fact, DEI lays at the heart of the outbreak of the surge in vile behavior, including the recent calls for genocide centered around American college campuses.
The epitome of such moral bankruptcy is my alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania. Penn has rightfully been blasted in the news over the past few months for both platforming calls for genocide and failing to protect female athletics, resulting in a hemorrhaging of key donors. The university announced that Penn President Liz Magill resigned due to her response to anti-Semitism on campus. Undoubtedly, the university hopes that this will put an end to the public scrutiny of UPenn. But Magill’s exit does nothing to change the core rot at UPenn. Magill, as a white woman, was relatively easy to displace within the DEI framework. While Magill was not quite as low as a straight white male on the DEI hierarchy, she was low enough to be removed without substantial backlash.
Magill’s resignation is a start, but the real problems at UPenn — and in our university system at-large — predate Magill’s tenure, and they will continue unless they are directly confronted and real change is made. The university’s embrace of the DEI victim matrix hasn’t just led to an outbreak of anti-Semitism, but to speech code policies that discriminate based on viewpoint.
For example, how did the university decide that calls for genocide were protected speech but questioning the differences between men and women wasn’t? The answer is the twisted moral framework of equity, which forbids students, professors, and university presidents alike from criticizing anyone who is part of an “oppressed” group.
The current system values diversity, equity, and inclusion over meritocracy and truth. Today, university leaders, professors, and fellow students cram down their views of equity-based morality on students, with no room for dissent, which is how we got to where we are today.
I personally experienced this when I tried to speak against having a naked man present when I changed in the locker room at Penn. I was censored because the individual I spoke out against had a higher “oppression” DEI score than I did. The DEI framework and hierarchy enforced at the university ensure that certain groups are protected at all costs, and I was not in that select group.
Taking a deeper look at Penn specifically, professors at Penn <a href="https://www.univstats.com/salary/university-of-pennsylvania/faculty/">receive</a> an average salary of approximately $172,360, which is almost triple the average household income in the United States. To put this in perspective, I made $17 an hour as a Head TA in the engineering school. These professors are highly incentivized to reinforce diversity, equity, and inclusion ideologies and their corresponding anti-meritocratic and anti-free speech behaviors. I even had a professor refer to 9/11 as a “cultural misunderstanding,” as an attempt to promote false anti-Western rhetoric.
So the question remains: How does Liz Magill’s resignation change this issue? After all, Magill is still a tenured professor at Penn Law School. The incentive structures are still in place to promote this radical ideology — and unless donors pull out for broader, sweeping changes, the progress around the recent resignations of Magill and Chairman Bok is all for naught.
To prevent such shameful behavior from occurring in the future, we cannot lose sight of the root cause of these issues. The failure of Penn’s leadership is symptomatic of the deeper issues embedded in DEI philosophies, and without removing those from our ethos, we will ultimately fail to protect future generations from falling into a morally bankrupt delusion. As a member of the next generation, I call on Penn donors, alums, and fellow Americans to continue this fight against this moral perversion and return to the American ideals of free speech and meritocracy.
* * *
Paula Scanlan is an ambassador with Independent Women’s Forum (iwf.org) and a former swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania, where she was a teammate of Lia Thomas.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

University Presidents Testify In House Hearing On Campus Antisemitism

You Can Fire The Presidents, But The Deeper Issues On College Campuses Must Be Addressed

Readers Pass

Universities

Rep. Elise Stefanik&#8217;s (R-NY) office released a statement this week ripping into the NBC sketch comedy show &#8220;Saturday Night Live&#8221; for its <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-new-low-snl-wrecked-for-skit-mocking-elise-stefanik-in-college-anti-semitism-hearing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">widely-panned cold open</a> on the recent congressional hearing on anti-Semitism on college and university campuses across the country.
Notably, Saturday&#8217;s cold open bizarrely attacked <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-top-university-presidents-balk-when-asked-if-genocidal-chants-against-jews-violate-codes-of-conduct" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stefanik</a> for asking about students&#8217; calls for Jewish genocide while almost entirely backing off the university presidents, whose disastrous testimonies have already culminated in at least one resignation.
“Elise did not watch it,&#8221; Stefanik senior advisor Alex DeGrasse <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/12/11/entertainment/cecily-strong-was-uncomfortable-with-snl-anti-semitism-sketch/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the New York Post. &#8220;However, her office was flooded with messages from thousands of Americans across the political spectrum — Democrats and Republicans — who were appalled and disgusted by the antisemitic trash spewed by unfunny, morally bankrupt ‘comedians.'&#8221;
“SNL made history with the worst cold open ever because everyone knows there is absolutely no humor in the vile answers from the university presidents regarding their failure to condemn calls for the genocide of the Jewish people,&#8221; DeGrasse added.
During the hearing, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/university-of-pennsylvania" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Pennsylvania</a> President Liz Magill refused to acknowledge that calling for the genocide of Jews violates UPenn’s code of conduct on bullying and harassment. She resigned from her position on Saturday, mere hours before the SNL sketch aired, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/penn-president-liz-magill-out-after-disturbing-remarks#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Wire</a> reported.
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In the same hearing, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/their-statements-were-abhorrent-backlash-to-harvard-penn-mit-presidents-on-anti-semitism-continues-even-after-they-backtrack" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Harvard University President Claudine Gay</a> was similarly questioned about whether calling for the genocide of Jews violates Harvard’s codes of conduct. She <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/their-statements-were-abhorrent-backlash-to-harvard-penn-mit-presidents-on-anti-semitism-continues-even-after-they-backtrack" target="_blank" rel="noopener">responded</a> by saying that it depends “on the context.” Gay added that calling for genocide is “at odds with the values of Harvard” and that when that kind of “speech crosses into conduct, that violates our policies.”
The sketch, however, portrays Stefanik as unhinged for pressing the collegiate leaders on the issue, while those in academia were handled by the SNL team with kid gloves and largely presented as reasonable.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="College Presidents Cold Open - SNL" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ep-OnsDieFQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Conservatives online quickly reacted to the SNL sketch. Conservative Emily Zanotti, for example, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-new-low-snl-wrecked-for-skit-mocking-elise-stefanik-in-college-anti-semitism-hearing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> on X, “I mean, I get that SNL is typically a mess, but how do you watch that hearing and come out of it thinking Stefanik was the right target of satire?”
Radio host Rob Carson commented, “If there is no truth in satire, it’s not funny. This isn’t funny.”
“How to explain SNL siding with Ivy league (sic) neo-racists? Wondering what colleges their writers attended,” Fox News host Greg Gutfeld wrote.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-new-low-snl-wrecked-for-skit-mocking-elise-stefanik-in-college-anti-semitism-hearing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">‘A New Low’: SNL Wrecked For Skit Mocking Elise Stefanik In College Anti-Semitism Hearing</a>

Elise Stefanik

Stefanik’s Office Blisters SNL For Panned Sketch Mocking Rep. In Anti-Semitism Hearing

Stefanik’s Office Blisters SNL Over Panned Sketch Mocking Rep. Over Anti-Semitism Hearing 

Congress

Harvard University

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Saturday Night Live

Former Saturday Night Live (SNL) star Cecily Strong <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12850181/SNL-anti-Semitism-hearings.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> pulled out last minute from performing in Saturday&#8217;s widely-panned cold open, which targeted GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik (NY) for her questions during a recent Congressional hearing on anti-Semitism in colleges and universities instead of the college leaders who were widely criticized for their testimonies.
Strong rehearsed the sketch earlier in the week as Stefanik, according to a <a href="https://www.thewrap.com/cecily-strong-snl-elise-stefanik-cold-open-saturday-night-live/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from The Wrap, but was ultimately swapped for a relatively new cast member named Chloe Troast.
It remains unclear why Strong did not play Stefanik in the final sketch; she has not commented publicly on the matter. There has been speculation that the former SNL star will be back next week when fellow alum Kate McKinnon is set to make her return to host the sketch show.
Despite the Congressional hearing already culminating in at least one university president resigning from her position, SNL decided to largely take aim at Stefanik, who appeared visibly stunned that the collegiate leaders seemed to run cover for students she said had been &#8220;calling for the genocide of Jews.&#8221;
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<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/university-of-pennsylvania" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Pennsylvania</a> President Liz Magill, for example, refused to acknowledge that calling for the genocide of Jews violates UPenn’s code of conduct on bullying and harassment. Magill resigned on Saturday following wide backlash, as reported by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/penn-president-liz-magill-out-after-disturbing-remarks#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Wire</a>.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/their-statements-were-abhorrent-backlash-to-harvard-penn-mit-presidents-on-anti-semitism-continues-even-after-they-backtrack" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Harvard University President Claudine Gay</a> was similarly questioned about whether calling for the genocide of Jews violates Harvard’s codes of conduct. She <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/their-statements-were-abhorrent-backlash-to-harvard-penn-mit-presidents-on-anti-semitism-continues-even-after-they-backtrack" target="_blank" rel="noopener">responded</a> by saying that it depends “on the context.” Gay added that calling for genocide is “at odds with the values of Harvard” and that when that kind of “speech crosses into conduct, that violates our policies.”
There have since been calls for Gay to resign from her position. And compounding her problems, the university president is now under fire for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/embattled-harvard-president-claudine-gay-now-under-fire-for-alleged-plagiarism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allegations of plagiarism</a> on her Harvard dissertation.
Conservatives online quickly reacted to the SNL sketch. Conservative Emily Zanotti, for example, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-new-low-snl-wrecked-for-skit-mocking-elise-stefanik-in-college-anti-semitism-hearing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> on X, “I mean, I get that SNL is typically a mess, but how do you watch that hearing and come out of it thinking Stefanik was the right target of satire?”
Radio host Rob Carson commented, “If there is no truth in satire, it’s not funny. This isn’t funny.”
&#8220;How to explain SNL siding with Ivy league (sic) neo-racists? Wondering what colleges their writers attended,&#8221; Fox News host Greg Gutfeld wrote.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="College Presidents Cold Open - SNL" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ep-OnsDieFQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-new-low-snl-wrecked-for-skit-mocking-elise-stefanik-in-college-anti-semitism-hearing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">‘A New Low’: SNL Wrecked For Skit Mocking Elise Stefanik In College Anti-Semitism Hearing</a>

Cecily Strong speaks onstage at the Human Rights Campaign 2023 Greater New York Dinner at Marriott Marquis Times Square on February 04, 2023 in New York City.

Ex-SNL Star Pulled Out Of Widely-Panned Skit On Anti-Semitism Hearing: Report

Ex-SNL Star Cecily Strong Pulled Out Of Widely-Panned Skit On Anti-Semitism Hearing: Report 

Jews

The ground is shifting rapidly beneath elite universities. Once-generous donors have rescinded almost a billion dollars in donations, and this may be only the beginning after the disastrous performance of several Ivy League presidents in a recent congressional hearing. The University of Pennsylvania’s president Liz Magill has already been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/penn-president-liz-magill-out-after-disturbing-remarks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">forced to resign</a>, and Harvard’s Claudine Gay, who is facing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/embattled-harvard-president-claudine-gay-now-under-fire-for-alleged-plagiarism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">charges of plagiarism</a>, is likely next. The House Committee on Education and the Workforce has announced a full investigation of Harvard, MIT, and UPenn, which could expand to other schools. It seems that disgust with elite universities is felt almost universally, as everyone from billionaire hedge-funders like Bill Ackman to grandstanding politicians to Elon Musk pile on. 
But it is important to remember that the most significant problems with academia have existed for decades and permeate nearly all universities — elite or not — in the U.S. 
The recent extreme political zealotry of Ivy League campuses should be no surprise to anyone who has spent even a modicum of time at one of these schools, much less so if one has attended a class there. The only surprise in all of this is that it has taken so long for donors to notice there is something seriously, alarmingly amiss at modern American universities.
Even putting aside the current Israel-Palestine controversy, academia has over the past several decades undergone a profound transformation from a classical institution of learning to a laboratory for all manner of “woke” political activism and extremism. Far too many professors and college administrators see themselves as progressive frontline fighters in an ideological war, indoctrinating the young to transform society with radical but empty notions of Critical Race Theory and “DEI”; a victim-focused, infantilizing new MeToo feminism; a naïve Marxism; and an inexplicable hyper-focus on fringe issues like transsexuality. Sit in a modern college class where these sorts of topics are discussed and you will see they are often non-negotiable orthodoxies, not up for actual debate.
It is long past time for the ivory tower’s benefactors to awaken to the reality of what the modern university has become and the effects that experimental, faddish cultural theories floated in university classrooms and campus-wide policies have on society when widely disseminated. As students graduate and attempt to carry those theories into the real world, a kind of woke &#8220;Children of the Corn&#8221; dynamic occurs in which the adults reap what they thoughtlessly sowed to the youth, as those youth now make unreasonable and counterproductive demands on nearly every major societal institution.
Another problem with academia that is now being exposed is its <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kill-dei-to-fight-anti-semitism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">illegal hiring practices</a>. Nearly all college departments discriminate against whites, men, and heterosexuals in favor of those from “marginalized” groups. Ackman recently reported that Harvard President Claudine Gay was selected in a process in which white male candidates were automatically screened out of contention. This happens for nearly all faculty and staff positions now and has been going on for decades, but in recent years the situation has worsened considerably. 
Often those on hiring committees are told not to document these illegal practices in writing, but in their meetings and deliberations the hiring committee members openly discuss the need to choose a candidate from a marginalized group, and everyone on these committees understands they will bend over backward not to select a straight white man. Yes, straight white men are hired sometimes, but only in cases in which they are so far ahead of the other candidates as to make any other choice blatantly absurd. (And even in some of these absurd cases the lesser-qualified candidate is still chosen, as we see with Harvard’s president.) 
Another issue to underscore here is the political significance of dissertation preferences in faculty hiring. Most hiring committees — particularly in the liberal arts — select candidates based on how fashionable and politically correct their subjects of study are, and this is discerned from their dissertation and publications. Certain topics that are politically incorrect are automatically dismissed. So do not believe for one minute that politics is not a significant factor in hiring decisions. 
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The problems with academia extend way beyond the campus climate and hiring practices. For example, at most universities half the courses are taught by poorly-paid, part-time adjunct instructors or grad students, nearly all of whom make less money than restaurant waiters. Even at Ivy League schools like Harvard, an unacceptable percentage of courses are not taught by full-time top-tier professors. 
Even more confounding is the administrative bloat in nearly all universities. Over the last two decades the number of administrative positions in academia have exploded — including thousands of new DEI positions, many enjoying salaries in the six figures. Most tuition money, student loans, and donations pay for administrators and buildings, most of these largely superfluous and even counterproductive to real education. 
Shockingly, the deterioration and ideological zealotry of academia did not have a negative effect on its fundraising until now. The money rolled in without slowing, often from staunch capitalists, traditional families, religious individuals, and successful businesspeople who should have been more skeptical of an institution that increasingly generated a distaste for all of those very things.
It is often surprising how ill-informed (and uninterested) most donors are about the deterioration of the academy and the degree to which extreme orthodoxies have infected nearly every aspect of the university, from the classroom to the administration. Sure, there’s still a lot of legitimate learning taking place and some value to the college experience, but it is mixed with considerably more nonsense than it once was and permeated with an ideological agenda that, even when subtle, is almost palpable. And it’s often not very subtle.
If this recent controversy serves as an ideological wake-up call to the ivory tower and to those who pay its bills, that will be a good thing.
Kristen Lacefield is a former lecturer of English and film at TCU and holds a PhD in English literature and media studies from the University of North Carolina. She also produces videos and podcasts for YouTube as “Colonel Kurtz.”
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Daily Wire.

American Universities Have Finally Hit The Wall

Harvard

U.S. House of Representatives

Sketch comedy show &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/saturday-night-live" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Saturday Night Live</a>&#8221; was roundly mocked online this weekend for its cold open on Saturday which bizarrely targeted GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik (NY) for her questions during a recent Congressional hearing on anti-Semitism in colleges and universities, instead of the college leaders who were widely panned for their testimonies.
During the hearing, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/university-of-pennsylvania" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Pennsylvania</a> President Liz Magill refused to acknowledge that calling for the genocide of Jews violates UPenn&#8217;s code of conduct on bullying and harassment. The testimony was so jarring, it culminated in Magill&#8217;s resignation on Saturday following wide backlash, as reported by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/penn-president-liz-magill-out-after-disturbing-remarks#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Wire</a>.
The cold open, however, largely took aim at Rep. Stefanik, who was visibly stunned that the collegiate leaders seemed to run cover for students calling for genocide of Jews (video below). And folks online noticed.
&#8220;A new low for SNL,&#8221; Winston Marshall remarked. Conservative Emily Zanotti commented in response, &#8220;I mean, I get that SNL is typically a mess, but how do you watch that hearing and come out of it thinking Stefanik was the right target of satire?&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I mean, I get that SNL is typically a mess, but how do you watch that hearing and come out of it thinking Stefanik was the right target of satire? <a href="https://t.co/g4jBOf1Nf4">https://t.co/g4jBOf1Nf4</a>
&mdash; Emily Zanotti 🦝 (@emzanotti) <a href="https://twitter.com/emzanotti/status/1733923276647268542?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 10, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;If there is no truth in satire, it&#8217;s not funny,&#8221; Rob Carson said. &#8220;This isn&#8217;t funny.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
If there is no truth in satire, it&#39;s not funny. This isn&#39;t funny.
&mdash; Rob Carson Show (@RobCarson) <a href="https://twitter.com/RobCarson/status/1733877294920298798?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 10, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;After three university presidents were universally panned for their testimony about anti-Semitism on campus, SNL decided that [Elise Stefanik] was the one who embarrassed herself,&#8221; Greg Price posted.
https://twitter.com/greg_price11/status/1733878994313896114
X account Libs of TikTok commented, &#8220;[Elise Stefanik] handled the pro [genocide] University Presidents beautifully. So of course SNL mocks her. This is so difficult to watch. Isn’t SNL supposed to be funny?&#8221;
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/EliseStefanik?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EliseStefanik</a> handled the pro g*noc*de University Presidents beautifully. So of course SNL mocks her. This is so difficult to watch. Isn’t SNL supposed to be funny? <a href="https://t.co/dBEgTJ66tU">https://t.co/dBEgTJ66tU</a>
&mdash; Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) <a href="https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1733904253326967138?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 10, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;This is the worst SNL opener in the history of the show,&#8221; X account Citizen Free Press said. &#8220;No one in the audience is laughing. This plays like a humiliation ritual.&#8221;
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This is the worst SNL opener in the history of the show. No one in the audience is laughing. This plays like a humiliation ritual. <a href="https://t.co/ZDTi8csubC">https://t.co/ZDTi8csubC</a>
&mdash; Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) <a href="https://twitter.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1733887774611120199?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 10, 2023</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Serious question: Is there anyone on either side that actually thinks this is funny?&#8221; noted another conservative politico. &#8220;I mean there was plenty of comedic material from that hearing, but SNL somehow managed to cover it in the cringiest way imaginable.&#8221;
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Serious question: Is there anyone on either side that actually thinks this is funny?
I mean there was plenty of comedic material from that hearing, but SNL somehow managed to cover it in the cringiest way imaginable. 
 <a href="https://t.co/jP1S84iGCk">https://t.co/jP1S84iGCk</a>
&mdash; AG (@AGHamilton29) <a href="https://twitter.com/AGHamilton29/status/1733898432132067486?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 10, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Rabbi Shmuel Reichman called the skit the &#8220;most embarrassing&#8221; he&#8217;s ever seen.
&#8220;In a postmodern world, people think they get to choose their truth, and then rewrite everything in order to fit their narrative. So SNL had a moral choice: &#8230; admit the obvious: that the testimony of the presidents of Harvard, Penn, and MIT were universally considered to be one of the most disastrous congressional testimonies in U.S. history – testifying in front of Congress that they could not condemn calls for genocide against Jews unless they became &#8216;conduct,'&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;Or stand by the cringeworthy stance of the radical left, that antisemitism is &#8216;cool and hip,&#8217; and Elise Stefanik was the one who made a fool of herself. Guess which one SNL chose?&#8221;
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This is the most embarrassing SNL skit I have EVER seen!
In a postmodern world, people think they get to choose their truth, and then rewrite everything in order to fit their narrative.
So SNL had a moral choice:
1- Admit the obvious: that the testimony of the presidents of… <a href="https://t.co/ygtAN1KgBD">pic.twitter.com/ygtAN1KgBD</a>
&mdash; Rabbi Shmuel Reichman (@ShmuelReichman) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShmuelReichman/status/1733963561058103799?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 10, 2023</a></blockquote>
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WATCH:
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“Adam Driver, Olivia Rodrigo” Episode 1851 — Pictured: (l-r) Chloe Troast as Rep. Elise Stefanik and Molly Kearney as Rep. Virginia Foxx during the “College Presidents” Cold Open on Saturday, December 9, 2023

‘A New Low’: SNL Wrecked For Skit Mocking Elise Stefanik In College Anti-Semitism Hearing

SNL Wrecked For Skit Mocking Elise Stefanik In College Anti-Semitism Hearing

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