UPENN president resigns after anti-Semitism uproar

The president of an Ivy League university has stepped down in the wake of a firestorm of criticism after a congressional hearing on the rise of anti-Semitism on US campuses.

University of Pennsylvania President Elizabeth Magill "voluntarily tendered her resignation," the chair of the university's board of trustees Scott Bok announced.

Bok also stepped down himself, a university spokesman confirmed to AFP.

Magill was among three presidents of elite universities who faced withering criticism following their testimony on Tuesday during a congressional hearing on campus anti-Semitism.

The trio gave long, legalistic and seemingly evasive answers at the hearing when asked whether students who call for the "genocide of Jews" on their campuses violate codes of student conduct.

Blowback was rapid and intense.

Seventy-four lawmakers wrote letters demanding the immediate removal of Magill and the presidents of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

At Tuesday's hearing, Republican congresswoman Elise Stefanik asked each of the presidents if calling for the genocide of Jews violated university rules or codes of conduct.

"If the speech turns into conduct, it can be harassment, yes," Magill responded, according to a transcript on Stefanik's office website.

Stefanik pressed on: "I am asking, specifically calling for the genocide of Jews, does that constitute bullying or harassment?"

"If it is directed and severe, pervasive, it is harassment," Magill said.

"So the answer is yes," Stefanik queried.

"It is a context-dependent decision, congresswoman," Magill responded.

When Stefanik heard similar answers from the others, she erupted: "It does not depend on the context. The answer is yes, and this is why you should resign."

Hate crimes targeting Jewish and Muslim people in the US and on university campuses have risen since October 7, with three young Palestinian men shot near a university campus in Vermont on November 26.

The MIT in particular also stirred up a storm after the university's response to peaceful protests and allegations that it ignored the "harassment and discrimination perpetuated by pro-Israel community members," a public report by members of the MIT community said.

The report released on November 27 documents how MIT "deprioritized the fight against Islamophobia on campus — leaving Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian students subject to continued public harassment, doxxing, and even physical assault."