Over 70 US lawmakers demand removal of top university presidents over ‘antisemitism’

Over 70 US legislators called for the removal of presidents from three leading universities on Friday, after their responses during a hearing regarding antisemitism on campuses, Reuters reported.

The letter, written by Republican Representative Elise Stefanik and Democratic Representative Jared Moskowitz, urged the boards of governors at Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to dismiss their presidents, warning that failure to do so may be seen as condoning their alleged antisemitic stance.

“Testimony provided by presidents of your institutions showed a complete absence of moral clarity and illuminated the problematic double standards and dehumanization of the Jewish communities that your university presidents enabled,” the letter said.

“Given this moment of crisis, we demand that your boards immediately remove each of these presidents from their positions and that you provide an actionable plan to ensure that Jewish and Israeli students, teachers, and faculty are safe on your campuses.”

Liz Magill of Penn, Claudine Gay of Harvard, and Sally Kornbluth of MIT, who testified before a US House Committee on Tuesday, are facing criticism from their respective Jewish communities over their handling of pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian group tensions.

Following their testimonies, calls for the resignations of Magill and Gay intensified after they refused to answer whether calling for the genocide of Jews would violate their schools’ codes of conduct regarding bullying and harassment.