Columbia University President Minouche Shafik is stepping down months after protests over the Israel-Hamas war gripped the campus, Shafik announced in a letter sent Wednesday to the Columbia community.
Shafik came under criticism after authorizing arrests on campus and for her testimony to the House Education Committee over the university’s handling of antisemitism.
Criticism over campus protests Shafik came under criticism for her handling of protests on campus over the Israel-Hamas war.
The encampment students launched at Columbia quickly sparked a movement at college campuses across the country and across the globe.
Like Shafik, university presidents struggled to find a balance between protecting students’ freedom to protest and ensuring the safety of all students.
Months after demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted on Columbia University’s campus, president Minouche Shafik announced his resignation in a letter to the campus community on Wednesday.
The way that Shafik, an economist of Egyptian descent who served as president of the London School of Economics and a former high-ranking official at the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and Bank of England, handled the protests against the war between Israel and Hamas on Columbia campus has drawn criticism.
While mentioning the advancements made during her term, Shafik also noted in her letter that there had been “a period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community.”. “.
Shafik wrote in the letter, “This period has taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has on others in our community.”. After some time to think things through over the summer, I’ve concluded that moving on at this time will best help Columbia overcome the challenges that lie ahead. “.
Following months of student-led protests at the school’s New York campus that extended to colleges across the nation, pressure was mounting for Shafik to resign. Shafik faced backlash for both her testimony to the House Education Committee regarding the university’s handling of antisemitism and for approving arrests on campus.
I have made an effort to follow a course that respects academic integrity and handles everyone fairly and compassionately. Receiving threats and abuse directed towards me, my colleagues, and students has been upsetting, not only for the community but also for me personally as president, Shafik added.
The university’s website lists Katrina Armstrong as the Ivy League’s acting president. Armstrong, a physician, held positions as chief executive officer of the medical campus and executive vice president of Columbia University’s department of health and biomedical sciences.
In order “to ensure an orderly transition,” Shafik says she will be collaborating with Armstrong. “.
Shafik’s letter stated, “Our core mission and values endure and will continue to guide us in meeting the challenges ahead, even though tension, division, and politicization have disrupted our campus over the last year.”.
Twenty days before the start of the fall semester, Armstrong wrote a letter to the university community expressing her gratitude and feeling “deeply honored” to take on her new role.
“I am particularly conscious of the difficulties the University has encountered in the last 12 months as I take on this role. We shouldn’t minimize their importance or let them shape who we are and what we will become, according to Armstrong. This year, in addition to the usual excitement and promise of a new school year, we are also faced with the presence of change and ongoing concerns as well as a great opportunity to look forward, come together for the noble purpose we serve, and grow both as a community and as individuals. “.
Even though Shafik’s year was “difficult,” the Columbia Board of Trustees acknowledged her contributions to the university community in a letter expressing their “regretful” acceptance of her decision to step down as president. The board continued to support Armstrong, stating that the university will benefit from her leadership and experience in overcoming its obstacles.
“Katrina is the ideal leader at this time, in our opinion. The board stated, “We appreciate her stepping in and we ask our community to support her.”.
Shafik is resigning one week after three deans at Columbia University resigned and were permanently removed from their positions earlier this summer due to behavior described as “very troubling” text messages that “touched on antisemitic tropes,” according to the university president. Following their remarks at a panel discussion on Jewish life on May 31 at an alumni event, the deans, Susan Chang-Kim, Cristen Kromm, and Matthew Patashnick, were relieved of their positions in July.
Shafik’s letter states that she will be collaborating with the UK Foreign Secretary in her new position “to chair a review of the government’s approach to international development and how to improve capability.”.
critiques of the protests on campus.
Regarding how she handled the anti-Israeli demonstrations on campus, Shafik drew criticism. In order to facilitate negotiations between representatives of the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on campus and the university, Shafik assembled a group of academic leaders prior to the commencement ceremony scheduled for May 15. Nevertheless, Shafik declared in a statement on April 29 that they were unable to reach an agreement that would have required students to vacate the camp on a university lawn where Columbia commencement ceremonies customarily take place.
Following the breakdown of the negotiations, individuals not connected to Columbia University as well as students broke into Hamilton Hall, the campus’s main academic building, and barricaded themselves inside. This led Shafik to ask for help from the New York Police Department on April 30 in order to get rid of the protestors who had taken over the building and the encampment.
The NYPD reported that it had detained about 300 protestors at Columbia and nearby City College that evening. In her letter dated April 30, Shafik asked the NYPD to remain on campus until at least May 17 in order “to maintain order and ensure encampments are not reestablished.”.
According to Shafik’s letter dated May 1, the “drastic escalation” at Hamilton Hall “pushed the University to the brink.”.
“These are acts of destruction, not political speech, when students and outside activists break down the doors to Hamilton Hall, mistreat our Public Safety officers and maintenance staff, and damage property,” the speaker stated. “I am sure that when I say that this turn of events has made me very sad, I am speaking for a large portion of our community. I apologize that we have come to this. “.
The arrests occurred about a week after Shafik gave the NYPD permission to detain over 100 protestors on a preliminary charge of criminal trespass on April 17, the day the encampment was opened.
Shafik gave a testimony that day regarding the university’s response to antisemitism in front of the House Education Committee. Shafik informed lawmakers that she disapproved of the remarks made by a number of academics endorsing the October 7 attack by Hamas, which led to the dismissal of at least one professor, Mohamed Abdou, at the end of the academic year.
House Republican Rep. The next leader of Columbia “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,” according to Virginia Foxx, chairwoman of the Education and the Workforce Committee. “.
“The Columbia University campus was overtaken by a troubling wave of antisemitic harassment, discrimination, and disorder during Shafik’s presidency. Just because of who they are, Jewish instructors and students have faced harassment, attacks, and mockery, according to a statement from Foxx. “Every student is entitled to a secure learning environment. Clearly. However, egregious legal and university rule infractions went unpunished. “.
Shafik reportedly spent months preparing for her testimony, hoping to avoid what happened to two other Ivy League presidents at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, who quit following their tragic congressional hearing on antisemitism in December. Additionally, she informed lawmakers that while the previous presidents of Harvard and Penn did not, calls for the genocide of Jews are against the university’s code of conduct.
Several legislators, however, felt that her answers fell short and questioned her about why instructors and students who had allegedly engaged in antisemitic acts had not been dealt with more swiftly and decisively.
House Republican Rep. Shafik’s resignation was “just a matter of time,” according to committee member Elise Stefanik, who had earlier demanded Shafik’s dismissal.
Stefanik released a statement saying, “This forced resignation is long overdue after failing to protect Jewish students and negotiating with pro-Hamas terrorists.”. “We will not stop pressuring American higher education institutions to uphold moral principles, denounce antisemitism, safeguard Jewish instructors and students, and have more robust leadership.”. “.
Faculty criticized Shafik’s authorization of arrests on campus.
Following the initial round of arrests, university faculty members staged a walkout in support of students’ rights to peaceful protest, casting doubt on Shafik’s decision to approve the arrests.
Following the second wave of detentions, Nadia L. Shafik came under fire from Columbia anthropology professor Abu El-Haj for allegedly refusing to let faculty intervene and attempt to defuse the situation before calling the police.
A censure motion was drafted by members of the American Association of University Professors at Columbia University, who claimed that Shafik had launched an “unprecedented assault on students’ rights” and had violated “the fundamental requirements of academic freedom.”. “.
Many opposed to the encampments, especially faculty members and students who identify as Jewish and pro-Israel, pushed the university to dissolve the encampments. They did this by citing multiple incidents in which demonstrators had called for physical intimidation and acts of violence against faculty members and students who identify as Jewish and pro-Israel.
Prior to the Jewish holiday of Passover, a rabbi associated with the elite university advised Jewish students to vacate the campus and finish their semester elsewhere. Shafik declared shortly after that until the end of the semester, classes on the main campus would be hybrid.
A movement was swiftly started on college campuses all over the nation and the world by the Columbia encampment students.
Similar to Shafik, presidents of universities have had difficulty striking a compromise between guaranteeing everyone’s safety and defending the right of students to demonstrate. There have been many claims that outside agitators are what are causing the unrest, and that student-run protests on campuses are primarily peaceful.
However, at the time, the arrests of both students and faculty were approved by a number of university presidents, including those at Yale, New York University, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Southern California.
