Former Penn President Liz Magill, Who Resigned in Disgrace After Disastrous Anti-Semitism Testimony, Named Dean of Georgetown Law
Former University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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Liz Magill, who previously served as president of the University of Pennsylvania and later stepped down following widespread criticism, has been selected as the new dean of Georgetown University’s Law Center.
Georgetown announced the appointment in a statement released Friday, describing Magill as an experienced academic leader with a strong administrative background. The university said she would bring a “values-driven vision” to the law school as she begins a new phase in her career. The statement noted that she left her role at Penn after controversy surrounding her congressional testimony on antisemitism on college campuses in late 2023.
During that congressional hearing, Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York asked Magill whether calls for the genocide of Jewish people would violate university rules regarding bullying or harassment. Magill replied that determining whether such speech crossed the line would depend on the specific context.
Her answer sparked strong backlash from donors, lawmakers, and members of the public. Shortly after the hearing, Ross Stevens — a graduate of Penn’s Wharton School and founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Asset Management — withdrew a planned $100 million donation to the university. Stevens said the decision was based on what he described as the school’s tolerance of rhetoric advocating violence against Jewish people and what he viewed as insufficient protection for Jewish students.
The hearing intensified criticism that had already been building over other issues during Magill’s tenure. Some donors had raised concerns about the university’s support for the “Palestine Writes” festival, an event sponsored by the school that featured several speakers accused by critics of promoting antisemitic views. The controversy also involved the university’s response to the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which took place shortly after the festival.
Magill defended the decision to allow the event to take place, saying the university strongly supports open debate and the free exchange of ideas as part of its academic mission. At another point during her presidency, she also sought to revoke the tenure of law professor Amy Wax after Wax made comments critical of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
Following the October 7 attack, Magill issued a statement addressing the violence but drew criticism for language that described Israel’s response as “escalating” and did not specifically label Hamas’s attack as terrorism.
Several major donors subsequently said they would no longer financially support the university. Among them were computer scientist David Magerman, investor Jonathon Jacobson, and hedge fund manager Clifford Asness. Their decisions followed a public call from Marc Rowan, the CEO of Apollo Global Management and chair of the Wharton Board of Advisors, who urged donors to suspend contributions to Penn until Magill stepped down. She resigned about two months later.
Magill’s appointment at Georgetown comes after renewed public attention surrounding her career. A recent article portrayed her return to a leadership role as a professional comeback and included an interview in which she said leadership should be grounded in clear values and principles. Earlier coverage also revisited the congressional hearing, arguing that accusations of antisemitism had been used as a political tool in debates over elite universities.
Georgetown Law has faced its own controversies related to antisemitism. Reports in 2024 noted that one professor, Lama Abu-Odeh, had submitted academic papers to the school’s online journal system that included claims about Jewish influence over media and financial incentives for Black Americans to support Israel.
The law school also drew criticism after plans surfaced to host a speaker affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, an organization designated as a terrorist group by multiple countries. The individual had previously spent more than three years in an Israeli prison. After objections from members of Congress, the event was postponed.
Georgetown University also operates a campus in Qatar, a Gulf state widely viewed as sympathetic to Hamas. Since 2005, the Qatari government has provided Georgetown with roughly $1 billion in funding connected to that campus.
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