This is my understanding as well. Penn’s Hillel was also vandalized during the conference which increased tension on campus. As someone noted upthread, Magill is in damage control mode but I feel it’s too little too late. It appears some donors and at least one trustee who resigned today agree.
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Claudine Gay did too little too late at Harvard. Lots of dissatisfaction there – and one Israeli billionaire resigned from the Kennedy School board. It looks like Princeton’s president got it right the first time (or close enough). Stanford has its own problems with the instructor who had students identify as Jewish or not, divided the room into Jews and non-Jews, and told the students (in a freshman seminar, I think) that the Jews were colonizers who had killed many more than 6 million.
CNN is covering the Huntsman story now: https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/16/business/upenn-antisemitism-israel-huntsman
There was a very antisemitic march on Locust Walk today.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t Jews AND Muslims Semitic?
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“Semitic” is supposed to mean a group of languages including Amharic, Arabic, and Hebrew. However, “anti-Semitic” has become a common way to say “anti-Jewish”.
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Ah I see. I figured it was something to do with language…trying to remember what I learned in my Middle Eastern politics back in college
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Crisis at Penn continues to accelerate as more former donors halt donations.
This quote is brutal:
Magerman said he is not calling for Magill to resign because it would be “wholly inadequate,” arguing UPenn’s moral foundation needs to be completely rebuilt “from the ground up.”
https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/18/business/upenn-donor-israel/index.html
I’m so happy to see donors finally taking a stand in the only language these people understand……money. It’s tragic that it took such a horrific event in Israel to open their eyes (and close their wallets) to what’s been occurring on campuses for years.
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A key responsibility of a university president is fundraising. Given the holes that the Harvard and UPenn presidents are digging for themselves, I wonder how secure their jobs are.
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I hope they’re both out. Start fresh.
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I doubt Penn lasts the week. Good riddance.
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I agree Penn President more at risk than Harvard’s, at least as of today. I doubt Magill will keep her job.
Yeah, I don’t think Magill will make it through this. She still has the support from the Chairman of Penn’s Board, which isn’t nothing, but I don’t know that he remains in his role either.
My $0.02 (as an Interested Observer and a free speech advocate) is that Magill did this to herself - the naivete around Palestine Writes, the milquetoast original statement after the 10/7 terrorist attacks - and is also dealing with factors out of her control, like a heavy-handed Board Chair and a fairly open campus right in the middle of Philadelphia.
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Just saw a lot of videos on facebook of a frightening anti-Israel antisemitic march held at Penn today. I don’t recognize my alma mater. I’m afraid for my child’s safety on campus at their Ivy. The frequent presence of antisemitic (oops, I forgot to say anti-ZIONist) hate demonstrations on campus made my child extremely uncomfortable, but this march was worse. This begins to feel like pre-WWII 1930s Poland or Germany.
Seems to me that campuses need to just suspend political demonstrations on campus for the time being, before this gets out of hand.
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The major issue regarding suspension of political demonstrations on campus is the right to free speech granted by the US Constitution.
Does the first amendment grant the right to incite violence?
Reminder that this thread is in the parent forum, not the political forum, and is about donors and Penn.
Please stay on topic or start a new thread.
Thank you.
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@blossom here’s a good piece from FIRE about what constitutes unprotected speech: e.g., true threats, incitement to imminent violence: Unprotected Speech Synopsis | The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
As FIRE says, during times of crisis and heightened emotions, it’s more important than ever to stick to principles of free speech. The college presidents have a hard job. But that’s why so many of them get paid huge salaries and are answerable for making mistakes in how they respond. As the Israeli-Palestinian conflict escalates, so must our commitment to free speech | The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
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