The seal of the University of Pennsylvania proudly states "Leges sine Moribus vanae" - laws without morals are in vain.  Sadly, it appears that the necessary moral fiber is currently lacking in the leadership of the UNiversity of Pennsylvania.  President Liz Magill, after allowing a Palestinian Writes festival, featuring multiple known antisemites, to take place on campus on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, then had a difficult time unequivocally condemning Hamas' October 7th massacre in Israel.  While a University president does not have to respond to every event that occurs globally, the fact that presidents have recently found it necessary to respond to other global and national events (e.g. the killing of George Floyd, the Dobbs decision, etc.) makes it curious when they are silent or even-handed in a matter such as this.

Furthermore, Magill's testimony before Congress on December 5th was shocking in her ability to quickly and concisely answer a question as to whether calling for the genocide of Jews would be considered harrassment.  It is moments like this, where one is asked to demonstrate the courage of their convictions, that one's morals become evident.  It appears that Magill's morals are driven by the mindset called by various terms - progressivism, wokism, DEI, etc - which espouses the view that a person is to always be defined by their immutable characteristics endowed upon them by God and nature, and not based on the person that they strive to be.  Such a mindset produces someone who can rise to the level of University president yet cannot say, without ambiguity, that calling for genocide is wrong.  And this was at a Congressional hearing, eight weeks after the initial atrocities, where President Magill no doubt knew what questions would be asked of her and had ample time to prepare.  Her performance has revealed her to be lacking the moral fiber necessary to run a great university, and we the undersigned therefore call for her to step down or to be removed by the trustees.