In his statement, Bok acknowledged that Magill erred during her disastrous testimony, describing a “dreadful 30-second sound bite” following a lengthy hearing.
“Former President Liz Magill last week made a very unfortunate misstep—consistent with that of two peer university leaders sitting alongside her—after five hours of aggressive questioning before a Congressional committee,” Bok said. “Following that, it became clear that her position was no longer tenable, and she and I concurrently decided that it was time for her to exit.”
Bok said he wishes Magill “well in her future endeavors” and praised her as a “good person and a talented leader who was beloved by her team.”
“She is not the slightest bit antisemitic. Working with her was one of the great pleasures of my life. Worn down by months of relentless external attacks, she was not herself last Tuesday,” Bok said. “Over prepared and over lawyered given the hostile forum and high stakes, she provided a legalistic answer to a moral question, and that was wrong.”
