WASHINGTON (NEWSnet/AP) — Facing heavy criticism, University of Pennsylvania’s president revised some of her remarks given earlier this week at a congressional hearing about antisemitism, and said she should have gone further to condemn hatred against Jewish students.

During a hearing Tuesday, Penn President Liz Magill was grilled, along with Harvard President Claudine Gay and MIT President Sally Kornbluth, about how their institutions had responded to instances of antisemitism. Their responses brought backlash from lawmakers and the White House.

Much of the criticism centered on a line of questioning from Rep. Elise Stefanik who asked whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” would violate each university’s code of conduct.

Magill said that whether hate speech crosses the line into violating Penn’s policies depends on context.

“If the speech turns into conduct, it can be harassment,” Magill said.

Gay responded to the question in a similar manner, saying that when “speech crosses into conduct, that violates our policies.” Kornbluth said she speech “targeted at individuals, not making public statements,” would be considered harassment.

ON Wednesday, Magill expanded on her answer, saying a call for genocide of Jewish people would be considered harassment or intimidation.

“I was not focused on, but I should have been, the irrefutable fact that a call for genocide of Jewish people is a call for some of the most terrible violence human beings can perpetrate,” Magill said in a video statement released by the university. “It’s evil, plain and simple.”

Magill called for a review of Penn’s policies, which she said have been guided by the U.S. Constitution, but must be “clarified and evaluated.”

In a statement posted Wednesday by Harvard on X, Gay condemned demands for violence against Jewish students.

“Let me be clear: Calls for violence or genocide against the Jewish community, or any religious or ethnic group are vile, they have no place at Harvard, and those who threaten our Jewish students will be held to account,” Gay wrote Wednesday.

White House spokesman Andrew Bates issued a statement Wednesday criticizing Gay, Magill and Kornbluth’s responses for not going far enough to condemn antisemitism.

Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro told reporters on Wednesday that Magill’s response was “an unacceptable statement.”

“I’ve said many times, leaders have a responsibility to speak and act with moral clarity. And Liz Magill failed to meet that simple test,” he said. “I think whether you’re talking about genocide against Jews, genocide against people of color, genocide against LGBTQ folks, it’s all in the wrong.”

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