PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Penn President Liz Magill remains in the spotlight after she declined to give a direct answer in Congress this week about if calls for Jewish genocide would break conduct policies.
And now a major donor and alumnus is threatening to pull a donation worth a hundred million dollars.
Lawyers for Ross Stevens, the founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Asset Management, sent a letter to Wendy White, Penn’s senior vice president and general counsel. They said the company would pull shares gifted to Penn, now valued at $100 million.
“Mr. Stevens and Stone Ridge are appalled by the university's stance on antisemitism on campus,” the attorneys stated in the letter.
The money was supposed to fund the Stevens Center for Innovation in Finance. Stevens’ team says Penn violated the terms of the limited partner agreement they had in place. Stevens and the company would be willing to discuss the issue and remedy the situation “if and when there is a new university president in place.”
Stevens explained the decision in a letter to his employees, saying Magill “enabled and encouraged antisemitism and a climate of fear and harassment.”
“As a proud Penn alum, as father of a recent Penn grad, also of a current junior, and on behalf of my beloved university, I can state, without equivocation, that Liz Magill is wrong,” Stevens wrote.
There are multiple reports as well that the Board of Advisors at the Wharton School of Business is calling for immediate leadership change.
Gov. Josh Shapiro, who has been very critical of Magill’s remarks before Congress, spent time with Jewish students on campus on the first night of Hanukkah. He did not specifically call for Magill’s removal or resignation.
“I said very clearly that the board here needs to determine whether or not her testimony under oath reflects the views and values of this institution and the board, and they need to make the determination,” Shapiro told reporters.
There was a board meeting on Thursday and Shapiro said he expects the board to meet again in the days ahead.
'Finding light in the midst of darkness'
On Penn’s campus, a small group rallied in front of College Hall Thursday, where they spoke about how much Magill’s testimony on Tuesday hurt them.
“The climate in the campus, the social climate, hasn't been amazing,” said Danielle Gutman, a post-doctorate student.
After the rally cleared out, students packed into Penn Hillel to celebrate Hanukkah and witness the ceremonial lighting of a menorah on the first night of the “festival of lights.”
“We wanted to be here, both to celebrate the festival of lights and remind everybody this is a time to find light in the midst of darkness, but also to make sure these students know that they're cared for and that they are seen and that they are heard, and that they should feel empowered,” said Shapiro, who joined in on the celebration.
“I tried to encourage them to use their collective voices — they have real power in their voices — to help the university, this incredible university, get through this challenging moment and come out stronger on the other side.”
Michael Greenstein, a law student at Penn, says it was meaningful to have Shapiro there with them.
“Even in the darkest times, even amongst internal strife in the Jewish community, external problems, we are able to come together and stay strong as a community,” Greenstein said. “And I think that's just such a beautiful message for times like these.”
Across the river in Rittenhouse Square, the first night of Hanukkah brought another scheduled gathering, calling for a lasting cease-fire in Israel and Gaza.
People in the square mourned the 1,200 Israeli lives lost in Hamas' attack on Oct. 7, as well as the 16,000 Palestinians lost in Israel’s ongoing retaliatory bombardment and ground offensive.
“I think the holiday has a lot of themes around hope and light, and I think that those are some of those symbols that we really could use more of right now to power our movement and to make sure that we're able to bring some hope and some light to overcome this horrific darkness, and all of the war and violence that we're seeing over in Israel and Palestine,” said Sam Lewin, a member of “IfNotNow,” an organization of American Jews calling for an end to U.S. support of what they see as Israeli government-sponsored oppression of Palestinians.
They lit candles and united around a call for justice, equality and peace for all Israelis and Palestinians.