Columbia University President Minouche Shafik resigned on Wednesday after failing to stop a radical anti-Israel, anti-Semitic “encampment” on campus that ultimately led to a violent occupation of a university building.
of Columbia Spectator Reported:
President Minouche Shafik will step down effective Aug. 14, Shafik said in an email to Columbia University officials on Wednesday. The announcement comes just weeks before the start of the 2024-25 academic year and marks the end of a tumultuous year as president.
During his tenure, President Shafik faced intense criticism from across the country for his handling of pro-Palestinian student protests, academic freedom, and anti-Semitism on campus. He is the third Ivy League president to resign in connection to campus tensions over the Gaza war, following University of Pennsylvania President Liz McGill and Harvard University President Claudine Gay.
“Over the summer, I reflected and decided that my stepping down at this time would best position Columbia University to navigate the challenges ahead,” Shafik wrote. “I am making this announcement now so that new leadership can be established before the start of the new semester.”
Dr. Katrina Armstrong, dean of the College of Health Sciences and the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, will succeed Shafik as interim president.
Columbia University has long been seen as a haven for pro-Palestinian activists, but after the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks, a wave of anti-Semitism erupted and Jewish and Israeli students, faculty and staff no longer feel safe.
NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 29: Protesters smashed windows in the building’s main entrance and secured chains to prevent authorities from entering, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York City. Protesters from a pro-Palestinian camp on the Columbia University campus barricaded themselves inside Hamilton Hall, an academic building that has been occupied in past student protests. Pro-Palestinian protesters marched around Columbia University’s “Gaza solidarity camp” after the 2 p.m. deadline given to students by the university to remove the camp passed. Students who did not meet the deadline were warned of suspension. Columbia University students were the first to set up a pro-Palestinian camp, and they demanded that the university withdraw from Israel as the Israeli-Hamas war has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by Alex Kent/Getty Images)
Shai Davidi, an Israeli teacher, warned that the university was failing to protect Jews on campus.
“We cannot protect your children from student groups that support terrorism… @Columbia Don’t speak up…@Harvard…@Stanford…University of California, Berkeley… My 2-year-old daughter is the legitimate target of the ‘resistance’ … and no president is willing to take a stand.” https://t.co/lIWCNTswk8
— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) October 19, 2023
The campus protests drew participants from the New York City area and beyond, and included escalating anti-Semitic rhetoric and even pro-Hamas slogans, with one speaker at the campus event praising Hamas.
The university was slow to respond, suspending several pro-Palestinian groups, although their members continued to participate in protests on campus. In April, the university attempted to negotiate with the “encampment” on campus, but was unsuccessful.
The students eventually occupied Hamilton Hall in a violent break-in, locking in several university administrators, vandalizing buildings, and destroying university property. Police were called to disperse the activists, but Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who had prosecuted President Donald Trump for failing to report payments to porn actresses as campaign expenses, dropped most of the charges against the anti-Israel activists.
Shafik was viewed as incompetent throughout the crisis, and while her testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor was not as damning as that of the presidents of MIT, Harvard, and the University of Pennsylvania (which led to the resignations of the latter), she was viewed as having failed to manage her campuses.
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) told CNBC in May that Shafik had been weak and indecisive on anti-Semitism. “When there’s a crisis of trust in university leadership, chaos ensues,” he said. At Columbia, many of its most prominent donors have suspended or revoked gifts to the university. And last week, three deans resigned over text messages amid the crisis. Ridiculed Students were complaining about anti-Semitism.
The Biden administration has done little to stop anti-Semitism on college campuses. While the Department of Education’s Civil Rights Division has launched investigations at a number of universities, the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division has remained silent.
Vice President Kamala Harris recently hired Nasrina Barji to liaise with her campaign in the Muslim and Arab communities. Barji has a history of anti-Israel activism on campus and has sought to allay concerns among Jewish students.
