Presidents Face Backlash—and Pushback—from Everywhere

A former trustee of and donor to UPenn has called for President Liz Magill to step down over the uproar following the Palestine Writes Literature Festival in September, which was held at UPenn and included speakers with a history of making anti-Semitic remarks. The trustee, Vahan Gureghian, had stepped down from the board earlier in the month in protest of the lack of UPenn’s response prior to the festival. CNN Business reported that “in the wake of Hamas’ attack on Israel, donors’ displeasure increased rapidly, as they argued the university wasn’t sufficiently battling antisemitism on campus.” Gureghian correctly predicted that “people are just going to turn that spigot off. That’s a major, major thing for a university of this stature.” In Inside Higher Ed, a piece entitled “Presidents Can’t Win” addresses the Israeli-Palestinian conflict spilling out onto campuses and observes that presidents are “blasted...for speaking up too late or for speaking too forcefully—or not forcefully enough” and that it is “virtually impossible for college presidents to navigate the issue without alienating student groups, angering donors and trustees, or prompting backlash from multiple quarters.” (See also Free Speech Isn’t Free From Consequences.) Efforts to help navigate uproars on campus and “promote free speech and civil discourse” have been laid out by College Presidents for Civic Preparedness, an initiative that was launched in the summer of 2023 by the Institute for Citizens & Scholars. It presents three major components: First, a “Campus Call for Free Expression,” in which a participating institution commits to seeking new ways to elevate “the principles of freedom of expression and critical inquiry.” Second, a “Faculty Development Institute on Dialogue Across Difference,” which includes training for inculcating “a robust culture of free inquiry and heterodox discussions.” Lastly, an institution needs to “track the essential metrics, gauge progress....After all, it’s one thing for college presidents to say they support free speech and another to stand firm in the face of irate students, faculty, alumni, or politicians.”