UPenn’s Liz Magill voluntarily resigned after she faced widespread criticism for appearing to dodge a question at a congressional hearing about campus antisemitism.

House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y. — who recently went viral for engaging in a contentious exchange with university presidents at a congressional hearing on antisemitism — on Saturday praised the resignation of University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill.

“One down. Two to go,” Stefanik wrote 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.”

  • FlowVoid@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    50
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    10 months ago

    Strange, by my count it’s two down: Santos and McCarthy. Just Stefanik is left to go.

  • Riccosuave@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    45
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    10 months ago

    Notice that this stupid fucking cunt has zero issues supporting Donald Trump’s absolute and unequivocal right to free speech regardless how violent or psychopathic his rhetoric may be. This has nothing to do with employing moral consistency in dealing with complex free speech issues because these people have no fucking morals to begin with. All they understand is remaining in power, and saber rattling in order to rile up their base of knuckle-dragging constituents.

  • PugJesus@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    44
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    10 months ago

    The good ol’ “Grill someone until they slip up and say something that can be used as a soundbite.”

  • Reality Suit@lemmy.one
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    14
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    10 months ago

    "In a contention exchange at the House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing on antisemitism on college campuses, Stefanik asked Magill, Claudine Gay of Harvard and Sally Kornbluth of MIT whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” would violate the codes of conduct at their schools. "

    Easy answer: Yes, just as calling for any genocide such as genocide of the Palestinian people. Yes, that would violate the codes of conduct at our school.

    • BraveSirZaphod@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      20
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      edit-2
      10 months ago

      It was an incredibly stupid showing, but to speak to their perspective, the question they thought they were answering was “Does a call to genocide violate First Amendment protections of free speech, to which universities are somewhat bound in order to receive federal funding?”, and the answer to that question, strictly legally, is indeed no. The government cannot punish someone for calls to genocide. The threshold for criminalizing speech is incredibly high, and anything short of “Go kill these specific Jews!” is generally going to be protected speech. In the context of trying to minimize any possible legal exposure, this was essentially the correct answer.

      That said, it’s unconscionably stupid that the presidents did not realize that they were in a Congressional hearing, not a courtroom, and that in that context, they were not speaking to a judge but rather to a glorified hostile PR agent. It would not have been hard to give an unambiguous “yes” response, and then only if pressed wade into some of the nuance of what necessarily counts as a call to genocide, since that it legitimately a complex question.

      • GBU_28@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        edit-2
        10 months ago

        Exactly.

        "I, and the university abhor hate speech and antisemitism. Such things are unwelcome on campus.

        That said, I would have to confer with the university legal council, and law enforcement to understand events in a case by case basis to ensure we do what we must to keep students and faculty safe. As president it is my job to understand the concerns of my staff and students, and to follow the guidance of experts in their respective fields. With those elements in hand I provide leadership in challenging times. It would be imprudent for me to take action unilaterally without my team."

        • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          10 months ago

          “why can’t you just say yes or no?” will be the whine. It’ll be followed up with the “why do you love genocide?”

          • GBU_28@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            10 months ago

            “adult questions often require more than a yes or no, even if prompted as such. Genocide is abhorrent and hate is not welcome on campus. I have no further reply than that”

  • jordanlund@lemmy.worldM
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    10 months ago

    Anyone have a link to what was actually said? I see lots of articles talking about it, but I’d like a transcript.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    10 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    “These universities can anticipate a robust and comprehensive Congressional investigation of all facets of their institutions negligent perpetration of antisemitism including administrative, faculty, funding, and overall leadership and governance.”

    In a contention exchange at the House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing on antisemitism on college campuses, Stefanik asked Magill, Claudine Gay of Harvard and Sally Kornbluth of MIT whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” would violate the codes of conduct at their schools.

    After the hearing, the GOP-led committee launched an investigation into universities’ efforts to combat growing violence and threats against Jews on college campuses.

    President Magill had three chances to set the record straight when asked if calling for the genocide of Jews violated UPenn’s code of conduct during our hearing on antisemitism,” she said.

    “What’s more shocking is that it took her more than 24 hours to clarify her comments, and even that clarification failed to include an apology to the Jewish students who do not feel safe on campus.

    “She has done excellent work in leading our community, including in addressing antisemitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of hate, all of which we reject utterly at MIT.


    The original article contains 614 words, the summary contains 192 words. Saved 69%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    10 months ago

    More than two if your looking to get rid of people in leadership positions who give antisemites a pass. Maybe she should get her hypocritical ass on those who support Nick Fuentes.

  • ColorcodedResistor@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    arrow-down
    39
    ·
    10 months ago

    she literally repeats that this is a yes or no question and they without hesitation try to blurt out policy. How did they make it to the president of schools if they categorically are unable to comprehend a 2 answer single syllable question.

    absolutely buckled under the minimum of pressure. these presidents are really running high end designer universities

    and are unable to say Yes, No

    • ShittyBeatlesFCPres@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      19
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      10 months ago

      Did you watch it in context or just see the soundbites? I mean, yes: they should have been more prepared for the stupidity of a congressional hearing but they weren’t as bad as that one 10s clip implies.

      • PhlubbaDubba@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        17
        ·
        10 months ago

        The yes or no question was if it would violate campus policy to say “death to all jews”

        Like I’m not a fan of soundbite bait questions but Jesus Christ that is the softest of soft ball questions.

        That’s not one of those “try to slip zionist propaganda into a decrial of antisemitism” gotchas, that’s like the main thing anti-zionists make a point that they aren’t saying when accused of anti-semitism.

        • Riccosuave@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          7
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          10 months ago

          That’s not a “yes or no answer”. Are you refusing to answer my question because you feel your answer might serve to incriminate you?

          • ColorcodedResistor@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            arrow-down
            6
            ·
            10 months ago

            the world you live in where you get hung up on ambiguity all the time must be hard.

            im sorry you have to suffer.

            • Riccosuave@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              3
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              edit-2
              10 months ago

              Wisdom comes from the understanding that there is nuance to everything. Only those who lack the maturity to understand this concept, or benefit from those who do, attempt to paint the world in black and white.

              No, you do not rile me up. You do not trigger me. I was illuminating the issue with your argument so other people who stop in here may gain some insight. In other words, I am using your ignorance as an example so those with more intellectual honesty might benefit.

              • ColorcodedResistor@lemm.ee
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                arrow-down
                2
                ·
                10 months ago

                im glad we agree on one thing. how many people are clapping for you right now? did you win any awards?

                i think the pendulum swings in two directions. what do you imagine people think of you, if you weren’t riled up. why did you reply?

                strange.