BUCKS COUNTY, PA — State Senator Steve Santarsiero (D 10, Bucks) has publicly called for the resignation of Elizabeth Magill, the president of the University of Pennsylvania. The call comes in response to Magill’s December 5, 2023, congressional testimony in which she failed to unequivocally condemn potential calls for genocide against Jewish people by students at the university.
Santarsiero expressed his disappointment in Magill’s response during the hearing, stating that she missed several opportunities to clarify the university’s stance on such a severe issue. “President Magill was given several chances to clearly state what should be obvious: that should any student call for the genocide of the Jewish People they would not only violate university policy but would be condemned in the strongest possible terms and face expulsion.”
The senator went on to criticize Magill’s lack of moral clarity in her responses, adding that he would not support any state funding for the university until she steps down from her position. He cited an incident from the 1950s involving his father-in-law, a Penn freshman at the time, who was denied the opportunity to take a required swimming test on a different day when it was scheduled on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism.
Reflecting on the incident, Santarsiero noted the university’s past history with antisemitism and expressed astonishment that such issues continue to persist. He concluded, “We have come too far for someone who would respond in such a manner to be the leader of one of our country’s great research universities.”
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