PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The head of the University of Pennsylvania is launching a new action plan to combat antisemitism following several recent incidents on campus.
Penn has investigated several hateful acts this fall — which happened both before and after the onset of the Israel-Hamas war. In one incident, someone shouted slurs while destroying items inside Penn Hillel, the Jewish student center on campus.
A swastika was also found painted inside an academic building, and hateful graffiti was spraypainted outside of a Jewish fraternity.
In a letter to the Penn community on Wednesday, President Liz Magill announced a new action plan with three tiers to combat antisemitism: safety and security, engagement, and education.
“We are deeply troubled by resurgent antisemitism, hatred, and bigotry in society and on college campuses. Penn must do more,” she wrote. “As we move forward with this important work, we will ensure that our programmatic efforts consider the interconnectedness between antisemitism and other forms of hate, including Islamophobia, so that we are fostering a welcoming community for all.”
The plan details several immediate actions, including:
— reviewing existing security measures for Penn-affiliated religious life centers
— reviewing how external groups reserve spaces and host events on campus
— constituting a university task force to address antisemitism
— creating a student advisory group focused on the Jewish student experience
— expanding antisemitism awareness through training and education programs for faculty, staff and students
Magill has been facing backlash from the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia and donors angered by the university’s decision to host a Palestinian writers festival at the Wolf Humanities Center a few weeks before the Hamas attacks on Israel. “Law & Order” creator Dick Wolf, who the center is named for, called on Magill to resign earlier this month, calling the festival a “hate fest.”
The festival was a public event that was not organized by Penn. In a Sept. 12 statement, Magill and other Penn leaders said they were aware that many people “raised deep concerns about several speakers who have a documented and troubling history of engaging in antisemitism by speaking and acting in ways that denigrate Jewish people. We unequivocally — and emphatically — condemn antisemitism as antithetical to our institutional values. As a university, we also fiercely support the free exchange of ideas as central to our educational mission. This includes the expression of views that are controversial and even those that are incompatible with our institutional values.”
Many other prominent donors have also said they would cease their bequests until Magill was removed as president.
One Jewish student on campus, who wanted to remain anonymous, said he approves of Magill’s antisemitism action plan, though he’s eager to see what the school does next.
“Kinda waiting to see … if actions speak louder than words and what she’s actually going to do,” he said.
Another student said Magill is in a difficult position but wants to see her speak out against Israel’s retaliatory attacks in Gaza: “Our school needs money to function, but the fact that that’s causing her to ignore humanitarian crisis essentially is awful.”