‘Two down’: Attention turns to MIT president following series of university president resignations

Social media began buzzing Tuesday with calls for Sally Kornbluth, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), to step down following the news that Harvard University President Claudine Gay had resigned.

University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill, Gay, and Kornbluth all appeared at a congressional hearing in early December and refused to answer a question from Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York about whether calls for the genocide of Jewish people violated their universities’ codes of conduct. Magill and Gay have since put in their resignation and many on X, formerly known as Twitter, said with “two down” Kornbluth should be next.

Bill Ackman, billionaire hedge fund manager and CEO of Pershing Square, posted “Et tu Sally,” which translates to “and you Sally.” He has also publicly criticized his alma mater, Harvard, for weeks and advocated for publishing the names of student group leaders who signed onto a statement supporting Hamas publicly so companies would not have to hire them. David Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports, said “MIT [is] on the clock” after reposting news of Gay’s resignation.

Kornbluth answered Stefanik’s question during the hearing, saying that calls for genocide would violate university rules “if targeted at individuals, not making public statements.” She also claimed that she was not aware of any calls for “genocide for Jews on our campus.”

“Two down, one more to go. Sally Kornbluth, call your office,” Ilya Shapiro, senior fellow and director of Constitutional Studies at the Manhattan Institute, said in a post. “Recall that MIT declined to discipline students who violated school rules during anti-Jewish protests because so many of them were foreign and thus would’ve lost their visas.”

Sean Spicer, former White House press secretary for President Donald Trump, also reiterated the “two down” sentiment.

Jim Rickards, attorney and New York Times bestselling author, cheered Gay’s resignation, saying that they would “see if MIT has the courage to follow suit” in a post.

Stefanik said that Gay’s resignation was “long overdue” and that this was “just the beginning” in a post.

An MIT spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation that “our leadership remains focused on ensuring the work of MIT continues” and did not comment on the calls for Kornbluth’s resignation.

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