Backlash to House testimony shines spotlight on new generation of Ivy League presidents

The university presidents called before a congressional hearing on antisemitism last week had more in common than strife on their campuses: The leaders of the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, and MIT were all women who were relatively new in their positions.

- Collin Binkley

In that sense, they represented the changing face of leadership at toptier universities, with a record number of women leading Ivy League schools.

Now, Penn's president has resigned over a backlash to comments that she said did not go far enough to condemn hate against Jewish students. And Harvard's president weathered calls for her resignation for nearly a week until the university's governing board declared its support for her Tuesday.

While the Israel-Hamas war has deepened rifts at campuses across the country, the three leaders were invited to testify as the public faces of universities embroiled in protest and complaints of antisemitism.

The Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce chose the three presidents because their schools "have been at the center of the rise in antisemitic protests," a committee spokesperson said in a statement.

The presidents drew fire for carefully worded responses to a line of questioning from New York Republican Elise Stefanik, who repeatedly asked whether "calling for the genocide of Jews" would violate the schools' rules.

"If the speech turns into conduct, it can be harassment. Yes," Magill said. Pressed further, Magill told Stefanik, "It is a context-dependent decision, congresswoman." Gay, gave a similar response, saying that when "speech crosses into conduct, that violates our policies." Some observers pointed out the dynamics when three women one Black and one Jewish were placed before a group of GOP lawmakers eager for a political fight.