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Columbia University president resigns after pressure over student Gaza protests

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Minouche Shafik, the president of Columbia University in New York, has resigned following months of criticism over her handling of student protests after the outbreak of war between Hamas and Israel.

In a letter to Columbia faculty and students on Wednesday, she described “a period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community”.

The decision as many universities are braced for renewed student protests at the beginning of a new academic year and focus from politicians in the build-up to November’s US presidential election.

Shafik’s departure follows those of presidents from two other Ivy League schools, the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University.

All three had come under sharp attacks in Congress during hearings focused on antisemitism on campus and the treatment of Jewish students.

The president of Cornell, who had also faced criticism for her handling of claims of antisemitism on campus, in May announced her resignation ahead of the end of her mandate, which she said was her own decision.

The officials were targeted by a number of high-profile alumni donors who threatened to withdraw funding to their former universities.

Shafik angered faculty members by revealing the names of academics who were still under investigation for alleged antisemitism while being questioned in Congress, and drew condemnation for suspending students and calling in New York police to break up encampments on campus.

Police standing guard near an encampment at Columbia University in April
Police standing guard near an encampment at Columbia University in April © Reuters

Her hardline stance triggered copycat protests and clashes between students and police at other campuses across the US and in other countries.

Shafik, a former senior figure at the World Bank and Bank of England who has been at Columbia for about a year, said in her letter she had been asked by the new UK government to chair a review of “its approach to international development and how to improve capability”.

“I have tried to navigate a path that upholds academic principles and treats everyone with fairness and compassion. It has been distressing — for the community, for me as president and on a personal level — to find myself, colleagues, and students the subject of threats and abuse,” she added.

Columbia said Katrina Armstrong, chief executive of its Irving Medical Center, would serve as its interim president.

Armstrong said: “I am acutely aware of the trials the university has faced over the past year. We should neither understate their significance, nor allow them to define who we are and what we will become.”

“The familiar excitement and promise of a new academic year are informed this year by the presence of change and continuing concerns, but also by the immense opportunity to look forward, to join together for the laudable mission we are here to serve, and to become our best selves individually and institutionally.”

David Greenwald and Claire Shipman, the co-chairs of Columbia’s board of trustees, said they “regretfully” accepted Shafik’s resignation. “While we are disappointed to see her leave us, we understand and respect her decision,” they added.

Virginia Foxx, the Republican chair of the House education and workforce committee which held the Congressional hearings with the university presidents, said there had been “a disturbing wave” of antisemitism during Shafik’s brief tenure.

“Columbia’s next leader must take bold action to address the pervasive antisemitism, support for terrorism, and contempt for the university’s rules that have been allowed to flourish on its campus,” she said.

When speaking to the committee earlier this year, Shafik had criticised Katherine Franke, a Columbia law professor, who expressed pro-Palestinian views and concerns over some veterans of the Israeli military who attended Columbia. She had also revealed a confidential investigation against the professor. 

On Wednesday, Franke wrote on X: “President Minouche Shafik threw me under the bus when she testified before Congress, but I’m still an employee of Columbia University, she’s not. Turns out that capitulating to the bullies didn’t work out well for her. It never does.”

The American Association of University Professors wrote on X that Shafik’s “failure to protect free speech & academic freedom by silencing peaceful protesters and having them hauled off to jail did a grave disservice to Columbia’s reputation and will be a permanent stain on her legacy”.

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