Civil Rights Lawsuit, Congressional Hearing Have UPenn Under Scrutiny

PHILADELPHIA — The University of Pennsylvania and its president have come under intense scrutiny recently due to tensions related to the Israel-Hamas war.

Two Penn students filed a civil rights lawsuit against the school's trustees, alleging it has allowed antisemitism to flourish on campus.

Students Eyal Yakoby and Jordan Davis, both of whom are Jewish, allege in the suit that Penn "enforces its own rules of conduct selectively to avoid protecting Jewish students from hatred and harassment, hires rabidly antisemitic professors who call for anti-Jewish violence and spread terrorist propaganda, and ignores Jewish students’ pleas for protection."

The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages, including tuition refunds, from the university.

News of the suit broke the same day Penn President Liz Magill testified before a congressional committee addressing antisemitism.

When asked by Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY), if "calling for the genocide of Jews, does that constitute bullying or harassment," Magill responded with an answer that left some, including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, angered.

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Magill said if the words are "directed and severe pervasive" they constitute harassment. She also said the context of the words matter.

Shapiro called Magill's response "shameful" in media interviews outside Goldie, the Philadelphia restaurant at which protestors stopped recently after it reportedly fired employees for wearing Palestinian flag pins and hosted a fundraiser for a group that has supported the Israel Defense Forces.

Shapiro, Sen. John Fetterman, President Joe Biden, and other elected officials denounced the protest, calling it antisemitic.

In a video released by Penn Wednesday, Magill said her response was in line with the school's policies, which are in line with the United States Constitution.

"We say that speech alone is not punishable," she said in the video. "I was not focused on -- but I should have been -- the irrefutable fact that a call for genocide of Jewish people is a call for terrible violence human beings can perpetrate. It's evil, plain and simple."

Shapiro outside Goldie said calls for genocide of any population is wrong, specifically referencing Jewish people, people of color, and the LGBTQIA+ community. Shapiro did not mention Palestinians, who some say are the victims of genocide by the Israeli government.

Penn is one of two Pennsylvania institutions of higher learning that are under investigation by the United States Department of Education.

The department's Office for Civil Rights said in mid-November that UPenn is on the list of schools being probed for alleged shared ancestry violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Penn issued the following statement on the federal investigation:

We have received the letter from the Department of Education and look forward to cooperating fully with the Department. The University is taking clear and comprehensive action to prevent, address, and respond to antisemitism, with an action plan anchored in the National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. President Magill has made clear antisemitism is vile and pernicious and has no place at Penn; the University will continue to vigilantly combat antisemitism and all forms of hate.