Ousted UPenn board chair Scott Bok says donors should not have ‘a loud voice on how universities are run’ after college president Liz Magill quit over anti-Semitism outrage
Ousted UPenn board chairman Scott Bok has insisted that donors with deep pockets should not be allowed to dictate how universities are run, after his university's president resigned in anger over its handling of anti-Semitism.
The Bok statement comes in the wake of influential alumni withdrawing their funding in protest over the university's handling of the anti-Semitism crisis on campus.
That prompted former UPenn President Liz Magill to quit earlier this month ahead of her expected resignation, while Bok also resigned as donors closed their checkbooks. She remains a professor of law at UPenn.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Bok emphasized that while donors are free to contribute to organizations as they see fit, they are not shareholders and should not have a 'loud voice' in the governance of universities.
βI think donors are absolutely free to give to whatever organizations they want or not, and withhold for any reason. But they are not shareholders, so I don't think they should have a particularly loud voice about the way universities are run.'
βThe biggest challenge is that we haven't had any crisis or controversy for a long time,β Bok told Bloomberg this week.
Ousted UPenn board chairman Scott Bok made a bold stand, insisting that deep-pocketed donors should not be in charge of how universities are governed. He is pictured with Liz Magill, who resigned as president earlier this month over her handling of an anti-Semitism crisis
This fiery statement comes in the wake of influential alumni withdrawing their funding in protest over the university's handling of an anti-Semitism crisis on campus
Bok argued that trustees, who are typically focused on the financial health of institutions, “should not overreact in this situation” and should become “engaged” with academics.
“It's a small fraction of one percent of the people at these elite schools who are actively involved in a way that anyone would find disturbing,” Bok said. βWe should not fundamentally tear up a governance model that has worked for a long, long time and made our universities the envy of the world because of a very short-term crisis.β
Bok and Magill's resignation came amid increasing pressure from donors, alumni and lawmakers, especially regarding allegations of anti-Semitism on campus.
Magill was accused of testifying before Congress about anti-Semitism when she tried to invoke free speech rules. Critics said the Ivy League college has been selective in its application of the First Amendment rights of students and faculty.
After the congressional hearing, Bok, CEO of investment bank Greenhill & Co., faced criticism from Wall Street colleagues, led by Marc Rowan, CEO of Apollo Management Group Inc..
Rowan, who is also head of Penn's business school board and a major donor, called for his departure and urged other donors to withhold their contributions until they resign.
βI call on all UPenn alumni and supporters who think we are going in the wrong direction to close their checkbooks until President Elizabeth Magill and Scott Bok, Chairman of the Board, resign,β he wrote in a letter reported by Bloomberg in October.
At the time, the University of Pennsylvania rejected Rowan's demands, stood by the president and chairman of the board of trustees and dismissed all accusations of anti-Semitism.
Similar donor activism has emerged at Harvard University, where billionaires and recent graduates alike are suspending their donations to protest perceived inadequate measures to tackle anti-Semitism. President Claudine Gay has resisted calls to resign and is also embroiled in a separate plagiarism scandal.
Scott L. Bok, chairman of the school's Board of Trustees, announced his resignation following Magill's decision to resign in early December – effective immediately
In a letter to Magill, Wharton's administration said the university's leadership needed to change “immediately.”
Magill resigned amid calls for her resignation, which only increased after she appeared before Congress to explain her response to anti-Semitism.
Harvard President Claudine Gay during the congressional hearing on anti-Semitism on campus
The hearing also featured much-criticized testimony from MIT President Sally Kornbluth
Len Blavatnik, a billionaire donor who has contributed at least $270 million to Harvard, recently suspended his giving.
Earlier this month, the president of the University of Pennsylvania resigned following strong backlash over her controversial testimony in Congress about anti-Semitism on campus.
Bok resigned from his position as chairman of the University's Executive Board December 9 β just minutes after Penn President Magill's resignation.
Magill, along with the presidents of Harvard and MIT, was summoned before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce by lawmakers concerned about reports of a rise in anti-Semitism at leading universities.
They faced heated questions from committee chairwoman Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, but failed to argue that calls for genocide against Jews on campus would definitively constitute harassment.
After an international outcry, including more than 70 lawmakers demanding her resignation, Magill resigned on Saturday.