Liz Magill

Mary Elizabeth Magill (born 1966) is an American legal scholar and academic administrator who served as the ninth president and 27th leader of the University of Pennsylvania since July 1, 2022. An administrative and constitutional law scholar, Magill began her academic career at University of Virginia where she worked for 15 years, becoming Joseph Weintraub–Bank of America Distinguished Professor of Law and the Elizabeth D. and Richard A. Merrill Professor. She next joined Stanford Law School as dean and Richard E. Lang Professor of Law, serving from 2012 to 2019 when she returned to the University of Virginia to become provost.

On December 9, 2023, Magill announced her intent to step down as university president, once an interim president was named.

Quotes

• Our Jewish community is afraid. Our Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian communities feel unseen and unheard. I condemn the death threats and doxing that many at Penn are experiencing based only on their identity, their affiliations, or their views of the suffering in this war.
  • As cited in "President Liz Magill's Remarks at the Stated Meeting of the Trustees", University of Pennsylvania Office of the President (November 3, 2023) and "Penn president responds to backlash over testimony on antisemitism", The Washington Post (December 7, 2023)

• Rep Elise Stefanik: I am asking, specifically calling for the genocide of Jews, does that constitute bullying or harassment?
  Magill: If it is directed and severe, pervasive, it is harassment.
  Stefanik: So the answer is yes.
  Magill: It is a context-dependent decision, congresswoman.
  • From a House Education Committee hearing (December 5, 2023), as cited in "How Harvard, Penn, MIT leaders answered — or skirted — questions on antisemitism", The Washington Post (December 6, 2023)

• 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 some of the most terrible violence human beings can perpetrate [...] It's evil, plain and simple.
• In that moment I was focused on our university's long-standing policies aligned with the U.S. Constitution which say that speech alone is not punishable.
• In today's world where we are seeing signs of hate proliferating across our campus and our world in a way not seen in years, these policies need to be clarified and evaluated.
  • From a video message (6 December 2023), as cited in "Penn president responds to backlash over testimony on antisemitism", The Washington Post (December 7, 2023)

• It has been my privilege to serve as president of this remarkable institution. It has been an honor to work with our faculty, students, staff, alumni and community members to advance Penn’s vital missions.
  • Resignation statement (December 9, 2023), as cited in "Penn’s Leadership Resigns Amid Controversies Over Antisemitism", The New York Times (December 9, 2023)