Weekly Briefing: Penn's president faces a backlash after antisemitism hearing on Capitol Hill

The session was combative, and this college leader didn't catch a break after it ended. ADVERTISEMENT [Weekly Briefing Logo]( You can also [read this newsletter on the web](. Or, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, [unsubscribe](. College presidents were grilled on antisemitism. One leader is feeling reverberations. Pennsylvania’s governor is calling for the removal of M. Elizabeth Magill (above) as president of the University of Pennsylvania, after she testified on Tuesday before the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce about what one lawmaker called campuses’ “mishandling of antisemitic, violent protest.” Magill was one of three presidents — the leaders of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were also there — summoned to testify. [The hearing]( which lasted nearly five hours, was combative from the start. “After the events of the past two months, it is clear that rabid antisemitism and the university are two ideas that cannot be cleaved from one another,” said Rep. Virginia Foxx, Republican of North Carolina and the committee chair, [in her opening statement](. “For years, universities have stoked the flames of an ideology which goes by many names — antiracism, anticolonialism, critical race theory, DEI, intersectionality, the list goes on.” Rep. Elise Stefanik, Republican of New York, [created a viral moment]( when she asked Magill and the other presidents if they [considered students’ chants of “intifada”]( during campus protests a violation of their universities’ codes of conduct. Magill and her counterparts said that the chants could be harassment, but that ultimately it depended on the context. “It does not depend on the context; the answer is yes, and this is why you should resign,” Stefanik said in response to Claudine Gay, Harvard’s president, during the hearing. On Wednesday, Magill walked back her response to the question [in a video]( released by Penn. In it, she explained that during the hearing she was focusing on Penn’s policies “aligned with the U.S. Constitution, which say that speech alone is not punishable.” She continued: “A call for genocide of Jewish people is threatening,” and, in her view, such speech would be considered “harassment or intimidation.” Magill added that she and Penn’s provost would immediately begin evaluating its policies. Politicians across the political spectrum didn’t like Magill’s responses in the hearing either. Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, a Democrat, [said]( Magill had “failed” to “speak and act with moral clarity,” and called for her removal. Shapiro, a nonvoting member of Penn’s Board of Trustees, asked it to evaluate whether the president’s comments “represent the values” of the institution and the board. The trustees held an emergency meeting on Thursday, covered by [CNN]( a sign that events were drawing attention well beyond the world of higher education. After the board meeting, [The Philadelphia Inquirer reported]( that Magill was still in her position, despite mounting calls for her resignation. The board is scheduled to meet again on Sunday. But the effects of the hearing and campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war continue. This week, in response to Magill’s testimony, a donor [withdrew his pledge]( to give Penn $100 million. The Committee on Education and the Workforce said on Thursday that it [would investigate]( “the learning environments” and “policies and disciplinary procedures” at Harvard, MIT, and Penn, adding that the panel would issue subpoenas if necessary. The committee warned other colleges that they too could face investigations. [Read our Megan Zahneis’s full story here](. ADVERTISEMENT NEWSLETTER [Sign Up for the Teaching Newsletter]( Find insights to improve teaching and learning across your campus. Delivered on Thursdays. To read this newsletter as soon as it sends, [sign up]( to receive it in your email inbox. Lagniappe - Read. If the saying “you are what you eat” is true, then our national flavor palate can be boiled down to one thing: chip flavors. [This story]( details why you can get lasagna-flavored Lay’s in Thailand but not Italy and oven-roasted-chicken Doritos only in South Korea. It also explains why there are so many paprika-chip varieties in Germany. (The Guardian) - Listen. 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