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The president of the University of Pennsylvania, Elizabeth Magill, has resigned voluntarily, the school’s board of trustees said Saturday, after her response during a hearing was challenged. asked how he would handle statements at the university calling for the “killing of Jews.”
“It is my privilege to serve as President of this remarkable organization,” Magill said in a statement shared by the board of directors. “It is an honor to work with our faculty, students, staff, alumni, and community members to advance Penn’s important mission.”
Magill will remain on the faculty at Penn Carey Law, the university board said.
“On behalf of the entire Penn community, I want to thank President Magill for his service to the University as President and wish him well,” said Scott Bok, chairman of the university’s board of trustees, in a letter to the school on Saturday. announced Magill’s resignation as president.
Magill will remain in office until an interim president is appointed, Bok said.
A university spokesperson confirmed to ABC News that Bok has also resigned as chairman. In a statement obtained by ABC News, Bok said he submitted his resignation on Saturday, effective immediately.
“Although I was asked to remain in this role for the remainder of my term in order to assist in the presidential transition, I thought, personally, that this is the right time to leave,” he said.
Magill’s resignation as president comes days after he testified before the House Education Committee about how three university presidents have handled protests on their campuses. . Harvard President Claudine Gay and MIT President Sally Kornbluth also testified.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Magill clashed with New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik.
Stefanik asked Magill to answer “yes or no” if the call to “kill the Jews” violated Penn’s rules or code of conduct.
Magill replied, “If speech turns into behavior, it can be disruptive. Yes.”
Stefanik followed: “So I ask, in particular, calls for the killing of Jews, does that include coercion or harassment?”
Magill responded that it was a “contextual decision.”
“It’s a decision based on information — is that your testimony today?” Stefanik replied. “The call for the genocide of the Jews depends on the background?”
Some Pennsylvania elected officials criticized Magill’s statement, and some called for his resignation.
Stefanik responded to Magill’s resignation, saying it was “the least that was needed.”
“These universities can expect a strong and comprehensive investigation by Congress of all aspects of their institutions of negligence of abuse including management, teachers, and the entire leadership and management,” Stefanik say on Xformerly known as Twitter.
Hours after the trial, amid protests from politicians, including prominent Democrats, Magill apologized for his response to a video posted on the university website.
“I didn’t focus on it, but I should have. The fact is that it cannot be denied that a call for the genocide of the Jews is a call for some of the most terrible violence possible. it’s human-made. It’s bad — plain and simple,” Magill said in the video.
In contrast, using direct language, Magill says that the type of language is “disturbing or intimidating.”
Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania criticized Magill’s “very embarrassing” back-and-forth with Stefanik.
“That was an unacceptable statement from the president of Penn,” Shapiro, who is Jewish, said Wednesday. “Honestly, I thought his comments were very shameful. It shouldn’t be difficult to condemn a murderer.”
Shapiro said that if the call for the killing of Jews “doesn’t violate Penn’s policies, well, there’s something wrong with Penn’s policies that the committee has to do, or there’s a failure of the direction from the president, or both.”
Shapiro is a non-voting board member at the university.
A petition on Change.org calling for Magill’s resignation had more than 26,000 signatures as of Saturday afternoon.
The Republican-leaning Education Committee announced Thursday that it is opening an investigation into policies and practices at Penn, Harvard and MIT after receiving testimony from three presidents that was “totally unacceptable.” .”
ABC News’ Sarah Beth Hensley contributed to this report.
It’s a creative story. Please check back for updates.