MIT BACKS under-fire president Sally Kornbluth and praises her ‘judgment, integrity and moral compass’ after disastrous congressional testimony where she refused to answer whether ‘calling for the genocide of Jews’ is harassment

MIT is standing by its president, Sally Kornbluth, after her disastrous congressional testimony revealed that she refused to answer whether calls for genocide of Jews amount to persecution.

The prestigious school’s leadership announced its unwavering support for the scientist on Thursday – days after Kornbluth, Claudine Gay of Harvard and Liz Magill of the University of Pennsylvania said calls for the genocide of Jews are anti-Semitic hate speech but do not necessarily violate school rules.

“The MIT Corporation selected Sally as its president for her outstanding academic leadership, her judgment, her integrity, her moral compass, and her ability to unite our community around MIT’s core values,” the school said in a statement.

“She has done an excellent job of leading our community, including in the fight against anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and other forms of hatred that we at MIT categorically reject. She has our full and unconditional support.”

Kornbluth, Gay and Magill faced calls to resign after their ambiguous responses during a hearing into rising anti-Semitism at the country’s top universities amid Hamas’ war with Israel.

Asked whether calls for genocide amount to intimidation or harassment by a Republican representative. Elise Stefanik, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said: “If we are talking about private citizens, then do not make public statements.”

Kornbluth added that she “has not heard calls for genocide of Jews on our campus.” However, she acknowledged that at university campus protests she chanted that “may be anti-Semitic, depending on the context, when she calls for the destruction of the Jewish people.”

A gay man at Harvard responded that whether calling for genocide on campus violates the rules “depends on the context.”

Gay said: “Anti-Semitic rhetoric, when it escalates into behavior amounting to bullying, harassment and intimidation, is actionable behavior. We are taking action.”

UPenn’s Magill, for her part, said, “If speech turns into behavior, it could be harassment, yes.”

On Wednesday, Magill released a disparaging video statement attempting to explain her failure to condemn calls for genocide against Jewish people on college campuses.

She said she was not “focused” on the issue and said she wanted to “make it clear” that calls for genocide were “evil, plain and simple,” although she said the blame lay with her university’s policies and constitution, and not on her university’s policies and constitution. with her.

“At that moment, I focused on our university’s long-standing policy, consistent with the US Constitution, which states that speech itself is not punishable.

The weak responses from university presidents sparked widespread outrage, with one University of Pennsylvania donor threatening to withdraw his $100 million gift to the university if Magill did not step down.

On Thursday, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff condemned the rise of anti-Semitism amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas and “the presidents of some of our most elite universities.”

Speaking at a ceremony to light a huge menorah in front of the White House to mark the first night of Hanukkah, Emhoff criticized college presidents who testified on Capitol Hill this week, saying they “failed to denounce calls for genocide of Jews as anti-terrorism.” -Semitic.

“The lack of moral clarity is unacceptable,” he said.

Also Thursday, the board of Wharton, the world’s first business school founded in 1881 at the University of Pennsylvania, said Magill should resign.

In a letter addressed to her, they said the university’s leadership needed to be changed “immediately.”

“As a result of the stated beliefs of University leadership and collective inaction, our Board respectfully suggests to you and the Board of Regents that the University requires new leadership, effective immediately.”

In the letter, first obtained by The Daily Pennsylvanian, the board describes its concerns about a “dangerous and toxic culture” at Penn State that it says university leadership allows to exist.

The letter adds that university leadership “does not share the values ​​of our board.”

Following the Oct. 7 attack, three universities held a series of pro-Palestinian marches on their campuses, with students blaming Israel for Hamas’ terrorist outrages and saying the country deserved it.

Some academics expressed vehemently anti-Israel views, and threats were made against Jewish students on campus.

All three presidents acknowledged they were slow to distance themselves from student groups that justified the Oct. 7 massacre.

But they insisted they wanted to preserve a free speech environment and, to Stefanik’s fury, refused to give a yes or no answer to questions about condemning certain rhetoric.

Billionaire Jewish financier Bill Ackman has been one of the scientists’ most vocal critics and called on Magill to resign.

“This may be the most extraordinary testimony ever received in Congress, especially on the topic of genocide,” he wrote on X.

Ackman, who donated $26 million to Harvard in 2014, is calling for the resignations of all three women. Elon Musk and many others also believe it is time for them to go and say the hearings crystallize their liberal biases.

Jewish student organization Harvard Hillel said Gay’s “refusal to draw a line” on threats of anti-Semitic remarks was “deeply shocking.”

Harvard Hillel said it questioned the President’s “ability to protect Jewish students on the Harvard campus.”

“We are appalled to have to state the obvious: calling for the genocide of Jews is always a hateful incitement to violence. “President Gay’s failure to adequately condemn this speech calls into question her ability to protect Jewish students on Harvard’s campus,” Harvard Hillel said.

Harvard also tried to limit the damage from its president Gay’s remarks.

The university released Gay’s statement on X on Wednesday.

“Some people confuse the right to freedom of expression with the idea that Harvard will tolerate calls for violence against Jewish students,” she said.

“Let me be clear: calls for violence or genocide against the Jewish community or any religious or ethnic group are abhorrent, have no place at Harvard, and those who threaten our Jewish students will be held accountable.”