VOA教育报道2023--What Led to the Resignation of an Ivy League President?

What Led to the Resignation of an Ivy¹ League President?

The presidents of three well-known American universities recently spoke² to members of the U.S. Congress about antisemitism on college campuses.

Antisemitism is the word used to describe a hatred³ of Jewish people.

The House's Committee on Education called Liz Magill of the University of Pennsylvania, Claudine Gay of Harvard and Sally Kornbluth of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for a five-hour hearing in Washington, D.C.

The Republican-led committee chose the three leaders because their schools "have been at the center of the rise in antisemitic protests," a committee spokesperson said in a statement.

The protests are related to the ongoing⁴ conflict between Israel and Hamas. On October 7, Hamas fighters launched a surprise attack in Israel and killed over 1,200 Jewish people. Since then, the conflict has led to the deaths of more than 18,000 people in the Palestinian territory of Gaza.

Protesters who supported Palestine used the word "intifada," an Arabic word for resistance, and the phrase "from the river to the sea." Some people believe the phrase is a call for the death of all Jews.

"Yes or no?"

Representative Elise Stefanik is a Republican lawmaker from New York state. Stefanik, who went to Harvard, asked each university leader about how their school would react to calls to kill a large number of Jews, something described as genocide.

Stefanik asked Magill: "Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Penn's rules or code of conduct? Yes or no?"

Magill did not answer "yes" or "no." Instead, she said the university only considers if "speech turns into conduct." By that, she meant the university respects an individual's right to free speech. But if the speech became "directed and severe, pervasive⁵," as the president said, it would then be considered more serious. In response to a question about whether a student would be punished for their speech, Magill said it depended on "context."

When faced with the same questions from Stefanik, Gay of Harvard and Kornbluth of MIT also did not say "yes" or "no."

Gay answered that it depended on the context. She added that when "speech crosses into conduct, that violates our policies." And Kornbluth answered that she had not "heard calling for the genocide of Jews on our campus."

Criticism and questions of free speech

The answers brought serious criticism from national and state political leaders, students, and members of the college community.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat⁶, said Magill's answer was "unacceptable." He said talk of genocide against any group of people "is all in the wrong... She needed to give a one-word answer."

A spokesman for President Joe Biden criticized the three college presidents' answers. In a statement, he said they did not go far enough to condemn⁷ antisemitism on campuses. And calls for genocide go against "everything we represent as a country."

All three university presidents later apologized for not speaking out against Jewish genocide. Magill called for a review of Penn's policies which she said have long been guided by the U.S. Constitution. Gay wrote that "calls for violence or genocide against the Jewish community, or any religious or ethnic⁸ group are vile⁹, they have no place at Harvard."

Free speech experts say the college presidents' answers at the hearing did follow the current understanding of the Constitution's right to free speech.

Suzanne Nossell is the leader of the nonprofit PEN America, a free-expression organization. She said the First Amendment¹⁰ of the U.S. Constitution protects "even deeply hateful speech."

The outcome

The congressional hearing took place on December 5.

By December 9, Magill resigned under pressure from wealthy donors¹¹ and alumni. The pressure had started earlier this autumn when the university permitted a meeting on campus despite charges that some speakers had shown antisemitic views in other comments.

At MIT, the school's leadership group, called the MIT Corporation, announced its support for Kornbluth, who is Jewish, two days after the hearing. It said in a statement, "She has done excellent work in leading our community, including in addressing antisemitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of hate ..."

Gay faced pressure from Harvard's donors and alumni to step down. But more than 600 Harvard professors voiced their support for her leadership. They say that the school should not be influenced by political pressure.

Laurence Tribe is a well-known law professor at Harvard. He was critical of Gay's answer at the hearing. But he supported her continued leadership. Tribe said that "it is dangerous for universities to be... bullied¹² into micromanaging their policies."

On Tuesday, the Harvard leadership group announced that it would stand behind Gay and she would continue as the university's president.

Words in This Story

campus –n. the physical location of a college or university's buildings

genocide –n. the deliberate killing¹³ of people who belong to a particular racial, political, or cultural group

code of conduct –n. rules on how to participate in a group, such as how to be a student at a university

pervasive –adj. spreading to all parts of something

context –n. the words that are used with a certain word or phrase and that help to explain its meaning

vile –adj. evil, immoral¹⁴, unpleasant

alumni –n. the people who graduated from a school or university

bully¹⁵ –v. to frighten, hurt, or threaten (a smaller or weaker person) : to act like a bully toward (someone)

micromanage –v. to try to control all parts of something usually in a way that is not wanted

1 ivy   

n.常青藤，常春藤

参考例句：

• Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。
• The wall is covered all over with ivy.墙上爬满了常春藤。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

4 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

5 pervasive   

adj.普遍的；遍布的，(到处)弥漫的；渗透性的

参考例句：

• It is the most pervasive compound on earth.它是地球上最普遍的化合物。
• The adverse health effects of car exhaust are pervasive and difficult to measure.汽车尾气对人类健康所构成的有害影响是普遍的，并且难以估算。

6 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

7 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

8 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

9 vile   

adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的

参考例句：

• Who could have carried out such a vile attack?会是谁发起这么卑鄙的攻击呢？
• Her talk was full of vile curses.她的话里充满着恶毒的咒骂。

10 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

11 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 bullied   

adj.被欺负了v.恐吓，威逼( bully的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• My son is being bullied at school. 我儿子在学校里受欺负。
• The boy bullied the small girl into giving him all her money. 那男孩威逼那个小女孩把所有的钱都给他。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

14 immoral   

adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的

参考例句：

• She was questioned about his immoral conduct toward her.她被询问过有关他对她的不道德行为的情况。
• It is my belief that nuclear weapons are immoral.我相信使核武器是不邪恶的。

15 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。