Jewish students at the University of Pennsylvania said the resignation of President Liz Magill and President Scott Bok was not enough to make them feel safe after a series of anti-Semitic incidents, arguing that more “changes” were needed at the school.
“There is an understanding that a step is over,” junior Akiva Berkowitz told USA Today outside Steinhardt Hall, home of the school’s Hillel club. “But the process is not and I don’t want people to think this is the end.”
The student reacted on Saturday to the resignation of Magill and Bok, adding: “There are still many things to happen. “A lot still needs to change.”
Sophomore Jack Cohen said, despite the resignation of Magill and Bok, “it’s not comfortable here” and demanded that more be done.
“At the end of the day, we want to see more changes,” he said. “We want to feel more supported.
“‘Change’ is the key word: change for the better.”
Jewish students at the Ivy League institution have previously criticized school officials for doing nothing while they experienced several anti-Semitic incidents.
University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill resigned from her position on Saturday following her disastrous testimony before Congress. fake images
In September, a month before Hamas launched its surprise attack on Israel, pro-Palestinian student groups organized a weekend literature festival on campus, billed as an event to “explore the richness and diversity of Palestinian culture.” .
But the event, which featured more than 100 speakers, also featured some who have been accused of pushing anti-Semitic agendas, including one person who called for “death to Israel.”
Following the terrorist attack in Israel, pro-Palestinian demonstrations have taken over the campus, with chants of “intifada,” or uprising, which have also been painted as graffiti throughout the campus along with “Avenge Gaza.”
In late October, property next to a Jewish fraternity house was also vandalized with the words “Jews R Nazis.”
“The protests haven’t been fun,” Berkowitz said as he left Penn Hillel.
Jewish students at the Ivy League institution have previously criticized school officials for doing nothing while they experienced several anti-Semitic incidents. Police release Penn
The Maryland native said he wears a kippah on campus and has never felt personally threatened, but he was taken aback by some of the language he heard during the pro-Palestine protests.
Megan Singleton, a graduate student at the school, also claimed that after a swastika was found at Hillel “nothing was really done.”
He said students felt their concerns and suggestions were ignored by administrators, whose responses were “weak.”
“No one wants to go to an institution without feeling safe to practice their beliefs,” he told USA Today, adding that he was glad Magill resigned.
Several Jewish students at the university said more needs to be done to make them feel safe. Robert Miller
The university’s president had been pressured by donors and even members of the school’s administration to resign after testifying that calls for genocide against Jews would only violate the university’s code of conduct depending on the “context.”
Immediately after its appearance in Congress, a federal lawsuit was filed accusing the campus of being a hotbed of anti-Semitism long before the Hamas attack on October 7.
The lawsuit, filed by college students Eyal Yakoby and Jordan Davis, claimed that Penn violated federal civil rights law when it decided to selectively enforce its rules to “avoid protecting Jewish students from hatred and harassment,” according to Bloomberg Law.
The school has also ignored students’ pleas for protection and hired “rabidly anti-Semitic teachers,” Bloomberg said.
A federal lawsuit claims the school ignored students’ pleas for protection and hired “rabidly anti-Semitic teachers.” Robert Miller
“Emboldened by Penn’s years of tolerance and enabling of anti-Semitism, and by its deliberate indifference to the complaints of Jewish students, Penn students and faculty openly support and extol Hamas atrocities,” the complaint said.
The attorney representing the two students in their lawsuit said Sunday that Magill’s resignation is just the first move to make the school a safer place for students.
“This resignation is the first of many necessary steps to rebuild a Penn free of anti-Semitic abuse and harassment,” Marc Kasowitz told USA Today.
“The lawsuit we have filed on behalf of Penn’s brave students will ensure that goal is achieved.”
Pro-Palestine protests have taken over the campus since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7. Robert Miller
Meanwhile, at a rally in support of Israel and the Jewish people at the historic Rodeph Shalom synagogue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro spoke about Magill’s resignation.
He said that since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, he has seen Pennsylvanians “take actions big and small” to support Israel and its Jewish community, including at the university “where students raised their voices, where “Students made sure they were heard.” for his university and made sure his leadership was accountable.
“The students did that,” the Jewish governor said.
Magill will continue as interim president and remain at the law school, university officials said.
Jewish leader Julie Platt will take over as board chair until a permanent replacement is found.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn