UPenn board of trustees chair resigns following university president’s departure

The chair of the University of Pennsylvania’s Board of Trustees resigned on Saturday, just after university President Liz Magill did the same following controversial comments she made at a House hearing on antisemitism this week.

Scott Bok, who announced Magill’s resignation Saturday, said minutes later that he would also step down, citing the congressional hearing scandal.

“Today, following the resignation of the University of Pennsylvania’s President and related Board of Trustee meetings, I submitted my resignation as Chair of the University’s Board of Trustees, effective immediately,” Bok said, according to The Daily Pennsylvanian. “While I was asked to remain in that role for the remainder of my term in order to help with the presidential transition, I concluded that, for me, now was the right time to depart.”

At the Tuesday hearing, Magill and other college leaders controversially said that it would depend on context whether comments calling for genocide of Jewish people would be considered harassment.

Those statements brought her under fire from university alumni and Pennsylvania politicians, some of whom called on her to resign or be removed from the role.

Bok described Magill’s comments as “a very unfortunate misstep… after five hours of aggressive questioning before a Congressional committee.”

He stood up for her in the message, calling her “a very good person and a talented leader who was beloved by her team”

“Worn down by months of relentless external attacks, she was not herself last Tuesday,” he said. “Over prepared and over lawyered given the hostile forum and high stakes, she provided a legalistic answer to a moral question, and that was wrong.” 

“It made for a dreadful 30-second sound bite in what was more than five hours of testimony,” he added.

The board announced that Vice Chair Julie Platt will lead the group on an interim basis.

“We share your commitment to this extraordinary University, and while this is a challenging time, the Penn community is strong and resilient, and together, we will move forward,” it said in a statement.

Updated at 10:50pm.