Ethan Smith ranks fifth in his New Jersey high school class, scored high on the SAT and aced a full slate of five Advanced Placement tests last year. On Oct. 1, he submitted his application to a nearby Ivy League school, the University of Pennsylvania.
Six days later, Hamas attacked Israel, launching a war that has been accompanied by a reported spike in antisemitism in the United States — including on college campuses. About two months after that, Penn President Liz Magill told Congress that calling for the genocide of Jews wouldn’t necessarily violate the rules at her school.
Magill later resigned, but for Smith, the damage was done. He withdrew his Penn application and now plans to attend his home state school of Rutgers University.
