Facing widespread national scrutiny and intensifying calls for her resignation throughout the fall semester, Penn President Liz Magill announced on Dec. 9 that she would step down after being in office for only 16 months. Her tenure will be the shortest of any permanent University president in Penn's history and one marked by heightened levels of student activism on campus. Magill is also the first Penn president to resign beyond a government appointment.

See how The Daily Pennsylvanian photographers documented Magill’s presidency, from her official confirmation to the Congressional hearing that preceded her resignation.

Credit: Sukhmani Kaur

On March 4, 2022, the Penn community celebrated Magill in a procession down Locust Walk from "Ben to Ben" — beginning at the statue of Ben on the Bench and concluding at the Ben Franklin statue on College Green.



The event marked Magill’s first public appearance at Penn since her nomination and followed her official confirmation by the Board of Trustees, earlier that morning. Magill was joined by the Trustees, a group of University officers, and deans from multiple schools and centers.

Credit: Jesse Zhang

Days after Magill officially took office on July 1, 2022, she introduced herself at an ice cream social event on College Green on July 5.

Credit: Jesse Zhang


Magill welcomed over 2,500 first-year and transfer students to Penn beginning Aug. 23, 2022, as they moved into on-campus housing. In her conversations with new students, families, and staff members at freshman dorms, she gathered bucket list items for her to complete in Philadelphia.

Credit: Jesse Zhang

On Aug. 29, 2022, Magill's first-ever Convocation ceremony, for members of the Class of 2026 and new transfer students, was interrupted by over 100 protesters who began chanting “Save UC Townhomes” and “Stop Penn-trification” minutes into the speech.

In response to the demonstration, she spoke about the importance of "productive disagreement."



"Many of our breakthroughs are the result of decades of productive disagreement with prevailing orthodoxies. A community of diverse individuals can't live together unless they can listen to and learn from one another," Magill said. “Democracy cannot work unless people can live together, learn from one another and, paradoxically, disagree."

Credit: Jesse Zhang

Magill led a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the Arts, Research, and Culture House reopening to the Penn community on Sept. 7, 2022, following months of renovations.

The event welcomed students and faculty to "reimagine the ARCH" building as a home for community gathering and inclusion with more space for cultural centers and minority groups on campus.

Credit: Jesse Zhang

Magill hosted the first meeting of the Red and Blue Advisory Committee on Oct. 12, 2022, part of her initiative to inform the University's strategic framework over the next century.

"Penn’s future has never been brighter thanks to every member of our University community. We now have an historic opportunity to envision where Penn goes from here," Magill wrote in her announcement of the committee to the Penn community.

Photo by Eddy Marenco

Penn inaugurated Magill as its ninth president, formally commencing her tenure in a day of festivities and traditions on Oct. 21, 2022.

Credit: Anna Vazhaeparambil

Magill welcomed United States Ambassador to Germany Amy Gutmann at the naming ceremony of Gutmann College House on Feb. 2.

Credit: Abhiram Juvvadi

Magill hosted a “fireside chat” with faculty representatives from each of Penn’s four undergraduate schools during the University's annual Family Weekend from Oct. 27-29.

Credit: Anna Vazhaeparambil

In the nearly five-hour-long hearing of the United States House Committee on Education and the Workforce on Dec. 5, Magill and two other university presidents fielded questions about Jewish student safety and the boundaries of free speech on campus.

Four days later, Magill's resignation was announced to the Penn community.