Part 2 - University Antisemitism & Hate Speech Will Not Resolved With Resignations - It Must Be Attacked Head On
Hate & The Pervasive Rot Of Antisemitism Lies At The Root Of This Controversy
Fourteen hours ago, I posted a rather lengthy piece:
Not one hour after I posted it, the following hit the newswire (which I then added as an ETA into my original post for those who read online):
In a just-released piece from Axios, pulled from the NYT, we see the following result of Ms. Liz’s vacillating approach and how much her X post meant to some.
Penn loses $100 million donation over antisemitism hearing
A University of Pennsylvania donor is withdrawing a gift worth around $100 million to protest the school's response to antisemitism on campus.
The big picture: The final straw for Ross Stevens, founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Asset Management, was Tuesday's widely criticized congressional testimony by Penn president Liz Magill.Details: The gift from Stevens, a Penn undergrad alum, was given in December 2017 to help establish a center for innovation in finance.
It was in the form of limited partnership units in Stone Ridge, with the current value estimated at around $100 million.
Stevens, in a letter from his lawyers to Penn, alleges that the school has violated the terms of the limited partnership agreement, including its anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies.
Referring to Penn, Stevens' attorneys write: "Its permissive approach to hate speech calling for violence against Jews and laissez faire attitude toward harassment and discrimination against Jewish students would violate any policies or rules that prohibit harassment and discrimination based on religion, including those of Stone Ridge."
Penn Loses $100 Million Donation Over Antisemitism Hearing
About freaking time!
Then, just as sleep overtook me, my phone beeped with breaking news.
As the Washington Post reported:
Penn president, board chair resign amid backlash to remarks on antisemitism
University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill has resigned after intense criticism from donors, alumni and others of her testimony at a congressional hearing about antisemitism on college campuses.
Scott L. Bok, chair of Penn’s board of trustees, said in a note to the campus community that Magill will stay in the role until an interim president is appointed. After that, she will remain a tenured faculty member at the university’s law school.
The note was sent shortly before Bok announced that he would step down as board chair. In a separate note, he wrote: “Former President Liz Magill last week made a very unfortunate misstep — consistent with that of two peer university leaders sitting alongside her — after five hours of aggressive questioning before a congressional committee. Following that, it became clear that her position was no longer tenable, and she and I concurrently decided that it was time for her to exit.”…
Magill came under withering criticism after her testimony before a House committee on Tuesday in which she declined to state plainly that a call for genocide against Jews would violate the university’s code of conduct. Magill told Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) it would violate the school’s code of conduct “if the speech turns into conduct, it can be harassment. Yes.” When pressed by Stefanik, Magill said: “It is a context-dependent decision, congresswoman.”
Stefanik, who was among those who had called for Magill’s ouster, welcomed the news of her resignation. “One down. Two to go,” Stefanik wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Saturday evening. “This is only the very beginning of addressing the pervasive rot of antisemitism that has destroyed the most ‘prestigious’ higher education institutions in America.”
“Harvard and @MIT, do the right thing,” Stefanik wrote. “The world is watching.”
The bold is mine. Here is the original article.
One does not need to be among the lofty minds who parade around universities to see the connection between the abovementioned articles. Turn off the money faucet, and watch the consequences.
The question, of course, remains. Does dear old Liz understand that her lawyerly vacillation in answering a simple “yes” or “no” question was morally reprehensible? Or is she and others like her standing privately in her self-righteousness while bowing to the pressure of her board of directors?
I suspect it is the second choice. If it had been the first, she and all her compatriots would have stood up and said something the moment the hate speech and attacks on Jewish students began on their campuses.
While it is incredibly gratifying to hear this news and so very tempting to use “One down. Two to go,” as Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) wrote on X, as the title of this piece, what happens in the end to three or twenty morally corrupt university presidents is not the root of the problem.
As Stefanik continued on X:
“This is only the very beginning of addressing the pervasive rot of antisemitism that has destroyed the most ‘prestigious’ higher education institutions in America.”
And that, dear readers, will not be solved by firing someone or resigning.
The educational system has been broken for so long it will take a great deal more than placating gestures, no matter how welcome they are, on the part of any BOD, to solve this problem.