Following Harvard, Penn presidential resignations, DEI will continue to be attacked, experts say

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Harvard President Claudine Gay, left, speaks as University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill listens, during a hearing of the House Committee on Education on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023 in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)AP

After three university presidents faced backlash after a Congressional hearing on campus antisemitism last month and calls for their resignations — a related debate over diversity, equity and inclusion, broadly known as DEI, unfolded.

University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill, Harvard President Claudine Gay, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Sally Kornbluth all faced pressure to resign following the hearing after each equivocated over a question about whether calls for genocide violated their respective universities’ codes of conduct. The presidents said that those calls would depend on the context.

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