You Don’t Yell ‘genocide’ On A Crowded Campus

This president has a problem with clarity that’s costly to the university where I got my master’s degree, which wasn’t easy to do working nights as a Philadelphia Inquirer reporter.

Why couldn’t President Elizabeth Magill provide a clear yes or no answer to whether calling for the genocide of Jews violated my alma mater’s code of conduct?  

How could she not have consulted the experts in public relations at the Annenberg School of Communications, where I studied at Penn, whom I’m sure would have coached her to come down hard on calls for genocide of Jews, comparing them to shouting fire in a crowded theater leading to harassment, violence and even deaths.

Now the University of Pennsylvania faces a significant setback as major donor Ross Stevens withdraws a $100 million grant following the controversial appearance by President Magill in Congress.

Magill, alongside Harvard President Claudine Gay and MIT’s Sally Kornbluth, faced criticism for evading questions regarding the punishment of students advocating for the genocide of Jews during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

The backlash from the testimony given by the leaders of Penn, Harvard and MIT  has intensified after the hearing in the House of Representatives. All three failed to provide a clear yes or no answer to Rep Elise Stefanik’s question about whether calling for the genocide of Jews violated their university’s code of conduct or rules regarding bullying and harassment.

As there are now calls for Magill to resign, she should take a quick course at Annenberg School, which is just down the campus corridor from Wharton, the school to which President Trump transferred after spending two years at Fordham University in New York and graduated in 1968 with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics. 

In a video released on the university’s website, President Magill apologized for her initial response during the hearing, acknowledging that she should have focused on the undeniable fact that a call for the genocide of Jewish people is a call for severe violence, and definitely in violation of the university’s code of conduct.