University of Pennsylvania bosses have issued a new statement vowing to ‘heal’ the anti-Semitism torn campus after appointing an interim president, following the shock resignation of Liz Magill.
U.Penn Alumni President and college trustee Michael Barrett sent the oblique email following the promotion of Dr J. Larry Jameson – which made no mention of specific steps he’s planning to tackle anti-Semitism.
He wrote: ‘We have all been hurting through this time, and Dr. Jameson’s appointment is a key step towards healing.’
Barrett then shared a statement from Jameson himself. It said: ‘With respect for one another, support for one another, and adaption to our changing world, Penn can truly lead in this moment, and emerge better and stronger than before.’
Dr. J. Larry Jameson, a longtime dean at Penn Medicine, was given the role of interim president following Liz Magill’s resignation over the weekend
Michael Barrett – Penn Alumni president and college trustee – sent out this letter about the appointment of interim President Dr J. Larry Jameson
Magill finally caved the mounting pressure to step down following a disastrous performance in front of Congress, during which she failed to acknowledge that a call for the genocide of the Jews would constitute campus harassment
Barrett’s brief letter followed one from Jameson about his appointment as interim head of school. He too referenced the necessity of ‘healing.’
‘I am trained as a physician – healing is in my nature and skill set,’ he told the broader university community.
One word and subject matter that did not make it into either public not was ‘anti-Semitism,’ a bigotry that comprises the bulk of the issues the school has been facing ‘through this time.’
Both notes were dispatched after Magill resigned Saturday, following her disastrous appearance on Capitol Hill where she – along with the presidents of Harvard and MIT – refused to agree that calling for the genocide of Jews was against university rules.
Harvard president Claudine Gay and her MIT counterpart Sally Kornbluth remain in their posts.
Jameson is UPenn’s longest serving dean and has worked as Executive Vice President of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System as well as Penn Medicine since 2011. He will remain as interim president until the board of trustees appoints a permanent replacement for Magill.
‘Penn is fortunate to have the benefit of Dr. Jameson’s experience and leadership during this time of transition. A consummate University citizen and the longest serving current dean, Dr. Jameson is a collaborative, innovative, and visionary leader with extensive engagement with each of Penn’s 12 schools,’ Penn’s Interim Board of Trustee’s Chair Julie Platt said in a statement to the university community Tuesday.
Magill resigned from her post as president on Saturday following fierce backlash to her controversial congressional testimony.
She, along with the presidents of Harvard and MIT, was summoned before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce by lawmakers concerned by reports of a rise in anti-Semitism at leading universities.
They faced questioning from GOP caucus chair Elise Stefanik but failed to assert that calls for genocide against Jews on campus would definitively constitute harassment – which is prohibited by their student rules.
UPenn has remained under fire over anti-Semitism on campus since October 7 – and even before. Examples of hateful behavior include anti-Jewish slogans being projected onto three of the school’s buildings
The above slogan is uniformly understood to be a call for the extermination of the state of Israel and its people
Following significant outcry, including more than 70 lawmakers calling for her resignation, Magill stood down.
Just minutes after Magill’s statement the chair of the U.Penn’s board of trustees, Scott Bok, also resigned.
Bok’s Vice Chair, Julie Beren Platt – mother of television and musical theatre star Ben Platt – was named interim chair of the board.
In a brief statement issued Saturday evening Magill said: ‘It has been my privilege to serve as President of this remarkable institution.
‘It has been an honor to work with our faculty, students, staff, alumni, and community members to advance Penn’s vital missions.’
Before tendering her resignation, Magill issued a groveling video apology attempting to explain her failure to condemn calls for the genocide of Jewish people on campuses.
She said that during the hearing she was not ‘focused’ on the issue, and said she wanted to ‘be clear’ that calls for genocide were ‘evil, plain and simple’ – although she said the blame lay with her university’s policies and the constitution, rather than with her.
‘There was a moment during yesterday’s Congressional hearing on antisemitism when I was asked if a call for the genocide of Jewish people on our campus would violate our policies,’ she said.
‘In that moment, I was focused on our university’s long-standing policies – aligned with the U.S. Constitution – which say that speech alone is not punishable.
‘I was not focused on, but I should have been, the irrefutable fact that a call for genocide of Jewish people is a call for some of the most terrible violence human beings can perpetrate. It’s evil, plain and simple.’