Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro laughs in response to Dylan Lissette, chairman of the board of directors for Utz Brands, as Lissette speaks during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new 650,000-square-foot Rice Distribution Center of Utz Brands, Inc., on Kindig Lane, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in Conewago Township
Last month, PA. Gov. Josh Shapiro was a guest at an event addressing allegations of antisemitism on college campuses.
He didn't mince words when it came to talking about the University of Pennsylvania.
According to a report in The Daily Pennsylvanian, the newspaper at the University, Shapiro had some harsh criticism for Penn during a 40-minute sit-down conversation with Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee at a function celebrating the 80th anniversary of its Philadelphia/South Jersey chapter.
“I think, candidly, Penn lost its way. They are working to get back,” Shapiro said, according to the report. “There’s some important work there happening under their interim president. I think they are moving in the right direction.”
Shapiro criticized Pennsylvania colleges and universities - including Penn - for failing to keep students safe on campus by lacking consistency when it came to addressing acts of hate, many of which had been on display since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out in October, 2023.
Shapiro wasn't talking about student protests either, but rather the lack of leadership from faculty and university administrators.
“I think it is important that university leaders are holding faculty accountable as well so that they are teaching actual facts and not encouraging students to break the rules,” Shapiro said.
The governor further emphasized the difference between protesting or criticizing the Israeli government and acts of outright antisemitism, as many protests blurred the lines between the two.
“When it comes to the issue of Israel, foreign policy, and Middle East policy, that’s a far more gray area,” he said. “I think it is important to continue to speak out in support of Israel. I think it is also acceptable if one wants to respectfully criticize a policy coming from the Israeli government.”
A nonvoting member of Penn's Board of Trustees, this wasn't the first time Shapiro offered public criticism of Penn leadership. After former president Liz Magill's testimony at a House of Representatives hearing on antisemitism in December, 2023, Shapiro sharply disavowed Magill's remarks.
“I thought her testimony under oath before Congress was shameful and unacceptable,” Shapiro told the Daily Pennsylvanian at the time.
