‘Penn lost its way’: Josh Shapiro claims University mishandled allegations of antisemitism

Gov. Josh Shapiro said that Penn "lost its way" during an event about addressing antisemitism allegations on college campuses in December 2024. 

Shapiro — who is also an ex officio member of the University Board of Trustees — made multiple statements directly mentioning Penn during an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee in celebration of their Philadelphia-South Jersey chapter’s 80th anniversary. During the 40-minute conversation with CEO Ted Deutch, Shapiro discussed the responsibility of universities to protect Jewish students and commented on the lack of appropriate action taken by the administration in response to antisemitic incidents. 

“I think, candidly, Penn lost its way. They are working to get back,” Shapiro said. “There’s some important work there happening under their interim president. I think they are moving in the right direction.” 

Shapiro emphasized that universities have a “moral and a legal responsibility to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to keep all students safe on campus.” He criticized universities — Penn included — for failing to uphold that responsibility and for being inconsistent in addressing acts of hate. Shapiro attributed the issues on campuses to poor leadership, saying that the incidents occurring at universities “really didn’t have a lot to do with the students.”  

“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. 

However, he also acknowledged the progress made on college campuses in allowing students to "feel safe to be able to both go to class and to be able to protest within the bounds of the rules on campus."

Shapiro emphasized that there is an important distinction to be made between antisemitic acts and legitimate criticism of the Israeli government. 

“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.”

Over the past year, Shapiro has had a growing influence on Penn on both a private and public level, particularly regarding the administration’s handling of antisemitic incidents on campus. 

Through documents acquired by The Daily Pennsylvanian under Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know law, it was discovered that Shapiro had appointed his representative to serve on the University’s antisemitism task force and privately questioned Penn’s handling of the pro-Palestinian encampment. 

Shapiro, a nonvoting member of Penn's Board of Trustees, also criticized former Penn President Liz Magill for her testimony at a House hearing on antisemitism in December 2023. 

“I thought her testimony under oath before Congress was shameful and unacceptable,” Shapiro told the DP at the time. 

Shapiro began to work closely with Jameson shortly after his appointment, even having conversations with the interim president over the phone about student, faculty, and staff disciplinary statistics. Penn’s Senior Director of Commonwealth Relations, Michael Smith, maintained communication with Shapiro’s team, providing them with a list of potential violations committed by the encampment protestors. 

A University-wide email was later sent by Jameson urging protestors to disband the encampment detailing these violations.