Penn President Resigns After Pressure From Wharton's Board Of Advisors

Little more than a day after Wharton’s Board Board of Advisors demanded her resignation, University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill tossed in the towel and gave up her job.

Before the university trustees could force the issue, Magill tendered her resignation on Saturday, ending the shortest tenure of any Penn president. Wharton’s Board of Advisors made its demand after Magill’s testimony before a Congressional committee last Wednesday. In that hearing, Magill, along with the presidents of Harvard and MIT, dodged the question of whether she would discipline students for calling for the genocide of Jews.

“In light of your testimony yesterday before Congress, we demand the University clarify its position regarding any call for harm to any group of people immediately, change any policies that allow such conduct with immediate effect, and discipline all offenders expeditiously,” according to a letter sent by the Board of Advisors.

The demand for a change of leadership occurred after Board Chair Mark Rowan had already called on Magill and University Board of Trustees Chair Scott Bok step down, citing the University’s handling of antisemitism on campus. He has urged alumni and supporters to Close their Checkbooks’ until Magill and Bok resign. Bok has also resigned his chair. A 1985 Wharton MBA graduate, Apollo Global Management CEO Rowan believes that Magill failed to fully condemn the beliefs of some speakers at a Palestine Writes Literature Festival who called for the elimination of Israel.

A MAJOR WHARTON DONOR WANTS TO CLAW BACK HIS $100 MILLION DONATION TO THE SCHOOL

Hedge fund manager Ross L. Stevens also said that he would claw back a $100 million donation he had made in 2019 to establish the Stevens Center for Innovation in Finance. “Absent a change in leadership and values at Penn in the very near future,” he plans to rescind shares in Stone Ridge Holdings Group, he said in an email to his staff on Thursday. “Mr. Stevens and Stone Ridge are appalled by tpull he university’s stance on antisemitism on campus,” lawyers for Stevens wrote in a separate letter to the university’s general counsel. The law firm cites an agreement with the school that gives Stevens’ company the ability to retire shares given to the university for cause, including potential damage to Stone Ridge’s “reputation, character, or standing.”

The call by the Board of Advisors and Steven’s threat to pull back a major donation adds a new dimension to the building pressure on Magill. She has been under fire from prominent donors, faculty, students and alumni prior to Tuesday’s hearing after multiple incidents of antisemitism on campus in recent months. Many contributors to the university have publicly said they would no longer support the school. They include 1965 Wharton graduate Ronald Lauder and 1987 College graduate Jon M. Huntsman Jr., whose father is the namesake of Huntsman Hall. Huntsman’s father, who died in 2018, funded the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business with a $10 million gift. He donated $40 million in 1998, which at the time was the largest-ever gift given to a business school. As of 2014, Huntsman Sr. had donated at least $50 million to Wharton.

During Tuesday’s House hearing, Magill, along with the presidents of Harvard and MIT, did not explicitly say that calling for the genocide of Jews would necessarily violate their code of conduct on bullying or harassment. Instead, they explained it would depend on the circumstances and conduct.

WHARTON DEAN HAS REMAINED ABOVE THE FRAY SO FAR

Thus far, Wharton Dean Erika James has remained above the fray. In public remarks at the Economic Club of New York in early November she said that Penn is responsible for restoring its reputation and mending relationships with donors who have accused the university of tolerating antisemitism. “I don’t experience my colleagues, for example, within the university as antisemitic, but I recognize that many of the activities that are happening right now would lead to that impression,” James said at the event. “It’s our responsibility to repair those relationships. The thing that has been most difficult for Penn is that it has been for so long seen as a school that was very committed to Jewish students.”

Immediately after Hamas’ terrorist assault on Israel, James’ issued a strong statement condemning the attack. “Wharton unequivocally condemns the atrocious assault against Israel and declares our solidarity with those suffering in the wake of such violence,” she wrote. “It is our hope that all impacted communities can find refuge quickly and safely, for themselves and their loved ones during these troubling times.”

The controversy comes at a challenging time for Wharton. The university expects the business school to be the second-largest recipient of donations across its 12 schools in fiscal year 2024. The university’s budget plans for roughly $59 million in gifts to Wharton, second only to the $94 million in fundraising for the Perelman School of Medicine.

WHARTON BOARD OF ADVISORS CITE THE UNIVERSITY’S ‘FAILURE TO ACT’

Wharton’s Board of Advisors expressed concern about what it called a “dangerous and toxic culture” at Penn that they said the university leadership has allowed to exist. The letter adds that the University leadership “does not share the values of our Board.”

“As a result of the University leadership’s stated beliefs and collective failure to act, our Board respectfully suggests to you and the Board of Trustees that the University requires new leadership with immediate effect,” the Wharton Board of Advisors wrote in a letter sent directly to Magill.

Wharton’s Board of Advisors includes billionaire NFL owner Josh Harris, former Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky, Related Companies CEO Jeff Blau, Blackstone senior executive David Blitzer, and BET CEO Scott Mills.

The letter from the advisory board includes three proposed resolutions from an earlier Nov. 16 meeting. The resolutions address “standards of behavior,” “leadership and governance,” and “Wharton Board ongoing review.”

The behavior standards resolution demanded that Wharton community members will not celebrate murder or genocide, use hate speech, or use language that threatens the physical safety of others. Those who violate these standards, according to the resolution, would “be subject to immediate discipline.” The governance resolution urged the university’s trustees to exam and enhance its oversight over Penn leadership. The ongoing review resolution committed the Wharton Board of Advisors to monitor antisemitism at Penn and work towards increasing the safety and security of campus.

‘PENN MAINTAINS POLICIES THAT DO NOT PROTECT OUR STUDENTS’

“Our University chooses to maintain policies that do not protect our students and our community,” the letter said.

During the House hearing, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) asked whether individuals who call for the genocide of Jewish people violate Penn’s policies or code of conduct. Rep. Stefanik described calls for “Intifada revolution” among some protesters on campus as calls for genocide of Jews.

“If the speech turns into conduct, it can be harassment,” Magill told Stefanik at the House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing, later adding, “It is a context-dependent decision.”