The University of Pennsylvania, where suspected gunman Luigi Mangione earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, has declined to comment publicly on the arrest of its alumnus in connection with the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
When reached for comment multiple times via email and phone, a UPenn spokesperson would only say that Mangione graduated on May 18, 2020 with bachelor’s and master’s degrees and a minor in mathematics. He earned an engineering degree and was a member of the Eta Kappa Nu Honor Society for Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Cornell Law Professor William Jacobson, president of the Legal Insurrection Foundation and of EqualProtect.org, told Fox News Digital that the school may withhold comment because it is “afraid for the students” of the liberal institution, as “(its) campus is has been a hotbed for anti-American, anti-Israel, anti-Semitic outbursts and protests.”
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CEO murder suspect Luigi Mangione screams as officers restrain him as he arrives for his extradition hearing in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, December 10, 2024. (David Dee Delgado for Fox News Digital)
“I’m not sure why they wouldn’t be able to make a statement on something like this — not necessarily condemning him in the media, but offering condolences to the deceased’s family or something like that,” Jacobson said. .
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Julia Alekseevaan assistant professor of English at the school, posted several TikTok videos that appeared to praise Mangione.
Alexeyeva identifies herself on her website as a “socialist and staunch anti-fascist” and posted the videos under the name “The Soviette.” In one, she holds her hand over her heart as the song “Do You Hear the People Sing?” from the musical “Les Miserables” plays in the background.
The University of Pennsylvania, Luigi Mangione’s alma mater, declined to comment directly on the arrest of their former student in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. (iStock)
“I have never been more proud to be a professor at the University of Pennsylvania,” she wrote.
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A spokesperson for UPenn said Alekseyeva “retracted” her comments after realizing they were “insensitive and inappropriate.”
“Much concern has been raised by recent social media posts attributed to Assistant Professor Julia Alekseyeva,” the spokesperson wrote. “Her comments regarding the shooting of Brian Thompson in New York City were inconsistent with the values of both the School of Arts and Sciences and the University of Pennsylvania, and were not tolerated by the School or the University.”
The campus of the University of Pennsylvania can be seen in Philadelphia. (Jumping Rocks/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
However, the school did not name Mangione or condemn Thompson’s murder.
“It seems strange that they can’t express general condolences over his death without commenting on the guilt or innocence of their alum,” Jacobson said.
In contrast, the principal of the small private academy where Mangione attended high school released a statement on the same day the former valedictorian was arrested.
Luigi Mangione was taken into custody Monday morning in Altoona, Pennsylvania, in connection with the ambush murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City. (Luigi Mangione/Facebook)
“We recently became aware that the individual arrested in connection with the murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO is a Gilman alumnus, Luigi Mangione, Class of 2016,” said Henry PA Smyth, director of the Gilman School in Baltimoresaid. “We have no information other than what is being reported in the news… This is very disturbing news on top of an already terrible situation. Our thoughts go out to all those affected.”
A general view of the Gilman School in Baltimore on Tuesday, December 10, 2024. Luigi Mangione, who was arrested in Pennsylvania for the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, graduated from the school in 2016. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
The Ivy League university’s silence on national news about its graduate comes a year after the previous one Penn President Liz Magill refused to state flatly at a congressional hearing that calls for genocide of Jewish people constitute bullying or intimidation within the meaning of Penn’s code of conduct.
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University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill listens during a House Committee on Education hearing on Capitol Hill on Dec. 5, 2023, in Washington. Magill resigned under pressure from donors and criticism of testimony at a congressional hearing, where under repeated questioning she failed to say that on-campus calls for genocide of Jews would violate the school’s conduct policy. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
Magill resigned four days after the hearing, on December 11 last year, ahead of a Board of Trustees meeting over whether she could continue to effectively raise money and lead the university following the backlash against her handling of anti-Semitism at the school.
“I don’t know if (refusing to comment) is the lesson they’ve learned, but I do know that schools and companies in general have their standard PR pattern of not commenting on things – it can be done in completely good trust, what they say,” Jacobson said. “Or it could be something else.”
