Our nation’s third oldest continuously published daily newspaper, The Philadelphia Inquirer, loaded up with the #woke as it is, has been very, very upset about Israel defending itself from the Hamas attack of October 7^th through the policy of trying to utterly destroy the terrorist group, and with neocon columnist Trudy Rubin, who loves her some warfare when it comes to the Russo-Ukrainian War, fretting that Israel is causing too many civilian casualties as they try to cut down the Hamas fighters hiding amongst the ‘non-combatant’ population, is now worried that former University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill’s firing resignation under fire will have a “chilling effect” on colleges:

Penn leadership upheaval could have a ‘chilling effect’ on college presidencies and university operations nationally

Whether or not Liz Magill made mistakes, that’s not what led to her downfall, one Penn professor said.

by Susan Snyder | Second Sunday of Advent, December 10, 2023 | 5:32 PM EST

When he was angry about the response to accusations of antisemitism on campus, private equity giant Marc Rowan called on University of Pennsylvania donors to close their checkbooks until its president and board chair resigned.

And now they have, leaving some higher education experts and faculty worried about the potential impact of the high-profile resignation of president Liz Magill Saturday in the face of not only deep-pocketed donor backlash but also bipartisan political pressure, including a no-holds-barred grilling by members of Congress last week.

“College presidents have never felt less sure-footed than they do today,” said Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, a Washington-based higher-education advocacy group. “And part of that is because no matter what they say or what they do, there is an avalanche of criticism from another direction.”

Here’s an idea: maybe don’t say stupid [insert slang term for feces here], and there won’t be a problem.

Never has that been more apparent than in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent Israeli military response in Gaza, with presidents hesitant to issue statements, then doing so, then clarifying and apologizing — with criticism still ensuing from those supporting Israel, those supporting Palestinians, those claiming antisemitism, and those claiming Islamophobia.

Magill had the added controversy of the Palestine Writes Literary Festival, which was held on campus in late September and featured some speakers that critics faulted for having a history of making antisemitic remarks.

Ahhh, yes, the Palestine Writes Literary Festival. Ronald S. Lauder, heir to the Estée Lauder cosmetic company, told Dr Magill, in advance, that he wanted it cancelled:

After, he wrote to her in a letter he “had two people taking photos and two more who listened to the speakers” at the festival and found them to be “both antisemitic and viscerally anti-Israel.” And he said he didn’t want any students at Penn’s Lauder Institute of Management and International Studies, which he and his brother founded, to be taught by faculty who participated in the festival.

Dr Magill, who certainly knew who Mr Lauder, a graduate of Penn’s Wharton School of Business, was, chose not to comply with Mr Lauder’s request, “citing academic freedom and free speech,” according to the newspaper.

That Mr Lauder, and other deep-pocket donors, not all of them Jewish, might exercise their freedom of speech, in the form of no longer donating to the University, might not have occurred to Dr Magill, but it probably should have. Gee, a prominent Jewish businessman, President of the World Jewish Congress, is upset due to a ‘festival’ he anticipated would be anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli in nature, something he had other people confirm for him, should have, at the very least, had Dr Magill worrying about that, and perhaps exercising tighter controls, but nope, she didn’t.

Still, that didn’t cost Dr Magill her job. It was the coordinated and utterly boneheaded response that Harvard University President Claudine Gay, Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Sally Kornbluth, and Dr Magill presented during a congressional hearing on anti-Semitism on campus which was the final straw.

There’s stupid, and there’s dumb as a box of rocks stupid. When one of your multi-million dollar donors tells you that your university has a serious anti-Semitism problem, and you know that a significant percentage of your deep pockets donors are Jewish, wouldn’t a university president with an IQ above room temperature see this as a serious problem and at least try to take action?

Well, it wasn’t just Dr Magill who f(ouled) up!

Harvard president’s handling of antisemitism has cost school more than $1 billion: Ackman

Billionaire Harvard alum Bill Ackman continues push for President Claudine Gay to resign or be fired

by Breck Dumas | Monday, December 11, 2023 | 2:33 PM EST

Billionaire investor and influential Harvard alum Bill Ackman continued his push for his alma mater to terminate President Claudine Gay over the weekend, claiming her handling of antisemitism on campus since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel has cost the university more than a billion dollars in donations.

In a letter to Harvard’s governing boards of directors posted on the social media platform X on Sunday, Ackman argued Gay “has done more damage to the reputation” of the institution than any other individual in its nearly 500-year history, going through a litany of criticisms over her leadership which he says has contributed to major donors withdrawing significant gifts that are adding up.

“President Gay’s failures have led to billions of dollars of cancelled, paused, and withdrawn donations to the university,” Ackman wrote. “I am personally aware of more than a billion dollars of terminated donations from a small group of Harvard’s most generous Jewish and non-Jewish alumni.”

He added, “I have been copied and blind copied on numerous letters and emails to the University from alums who have written scathing letters to Gay and/or the Board withdrawing donations.”

The professors are aghast! Back to the first cited article:

Risa Lieberwitz, professor of labor and employment law at Cornell University and general counsel for the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), said Magill’s resignation is an example of the effect of undue influence by both donors and politicians who are seeking to have control over what happens on campus and in classrooms.

That, she said, can have a “chilling effect that can occur on general discussions within universities about issues that are controversial or maybe difficult to discuss. And that’s part of academic freedom to be able to have those discussions.

“And there may be a chilling effect on curriculum, the actual teaching in the classroom, [and] on public speech by faculty and by students who may fear the repercussions of pressures by external donors or politicians.”

She said AAUP is watching what is unfolding at Penn closely, as is its local chapter there.

Professor Lieberwitz might be worried about freedom of speech on campus, and academic freedom for students and professors, but there is another freedom involved here, and that’s the freedom of individuals to write, or not write, checks to the universities. The professors appear to want the big donors to keep making donations, while simultaneously acting and teaching against the big donors’ interests. Apparently the professors have forgotten the Golden Rule: He who has the gold makes the rules!