NEW: Hundreds of unseen docs indicate Josh Shapiro gained an unprecedented level of influence at Penn, sought to ban its main pro-Palestinian group, and had a “partnership” with a significant pro-Israel group on campus. My latest in @chronicle(!):.

RT @chronicle: Behind the scenes at Penn: Gov. Josh Shapiro inserted himself into the university’s leadership crisis, steering responses to….

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Shapiro, in the year since and in the wake of Trump’s attacks on higher ed, has broadly ceased touting his involvement at Penn. Still, though, he has portrayed himself as a voice of reason and a protector of Jewish students on college campuses — including at Penn.

These efforts culminated during Penn’s spring encampment, when senior admin. frequently communicated with Shapiro’s office. At points, the Gov. received advance notice of plans, negotiation documents, and the identities of protesters from Penn — info which was far from public.

In January 2024, a document drafted by the pro-Israel group and later circulated among some of Shapiro’s team called for at least 16 professors to be placed on leave, the adoption of the IHRA antisemitism definition, and for the university to increase its Jewish population.

Throughout early 2024, Fox — in frequent communication with others on Shapiro’s team — pushed the university to ban its main pro-Palestinian group. In its messaging with administration, Fox and others took cues from research done by a pro-Israel advocacy group on campus.

Fox was also installed on Penn’s antisemitism task force — two months after its creation — after intervention from Shapiro and new Penn President Larry Jameson. Fox aligned with the faction of the task force desiring the strongest action against perceived antisemitism on campus.

Shapiro and local lawyer Robb Fox (the representative) also apparently spoke with Marc Rowan — a private equity billionaire and the public face of the campaign for Bok and President Liz Magill’s removal — on separate occasions in this time.

“I never saw a governor at a board meeting, or even at a kind of board social event or informal meeting,” former Board of Trustees chair Scott Bok tells me. “A governor of Pennsylvania, as far as I know, has never even appeared, let alone chaired, a Board of Trustees meeting.”.

Shapiro apparently used Penn’s leadership crisis in fall ‘23 to ingratiate himself in the university. He appointed a representative to the Board of Trustees — previously prohibited at Penn — who later sought the ouster of Penn’s president and board chair with Shapiro’s go-ahead.

RT @jaredmitovich: 🇵🇦 NEW: In Panama, Trump's fight with China is expanding beyond the canal. Can its shaken leaders hang on?. I traced Pan….

RT @emily_scol: 🧵In April, @usedgov issued @Penn three demands after a Title IX investigation:.1️⃣ Release a statement affirming Title IX c….

RT @emily_scol: Thomas’ name and times have been removed from the online list of Penn women’s swimming and diving all-time records. A new n….

RT @jaredmitovich: BREAKING: Penn has caved to Trump's demands. It will enforce the NCAA's ban on transgender athletes in women's sports &….

RT @emily_scol: Penn has caved to the Trump administration’s demands in this resolution, stating that it will follow the NCAA’s ban on tran….

RT @emily_scol: BREAKING: @Penn has agreed to a Title IX resolution with @usedgov’s Office of Civil Rights. Story TK @dailypenn.

RT @emily_scol: Excited to share my first solo byline on @cnn’s 5 Things PM!.

RT @emily_scol: Helped out with today’s edition of 5 Things PM for @cnn! Excited for the rest of the summer here in Atlanta. .

RT @nytmike: NEW and BREAKING: Another major blow for Harvard -- the Trump administration has essentially revoked Harvard's ability to enro….

RT @diamywang: Perhaps not a Penn angle but a Philly angle: The newly named Pope Leo XIV graduated from Villanova in 1977, where he studied….