Nearly four months after Minouche Shafik’s shaky Congressional hearing on campus antisemitism, the Columbia University president has announced her immediate resignation, citing the “considerable toll” protests surrounding the Israel-Hamas war have taken on her and her family.
“I have tried to navigate a path that upholds academic principles and treats everyone with fairness and compassion,” she wrote in a public statement. “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.”
Shafik is the third Ivy League president to step down due to backlash over how their respective university handled campus protests and tried to maintain a safe environment for a diverse student body. Liz Magill stepped down from the University of Pennsylvania in December and Claudine Gay of Harvard University resigned shortly thereafter—having only served six months at the helm. None of the three female presidents lasted more than two years at their respective institutions.
What went wrong for Shafik?
Adding to the blistering criticism Shafik faced on Capitol Hill, the former vice chancellor of the London School of Economics was hit with another round of public fury over the university’s management of encampments that sprung up the night of her testimony.
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Shafik’s decision to greenlight a mass police operation on the second night of encampments resulted in the arrest and suspension of over a hundred students. While the suspensions were eventually postponed, the use of police drew flak from all members of the community: Pro-Palestinian activists denounced Shafik for her heavy-handed tactics, and those concerned with campus antisemitism believe the president failed to crack down sufficiently.
Columbia drew further notoriety when 1,400 international academics signed a letter committing to boycott university events, The National Review reports.
Despite Columbia’s use of the police force, activists regrouped in strength and eventually occupied Hamilton Hall, barricading doors to impede approaching officers. Meanwhile, other universities successfully de-escalated encampments and protests through negotiation.
Adding to the turmoil, the Russel Berrie Foundation, a trusted megadonor that’s cumulatively gifted Columbia nearly $90 million, withdrew its latest planned donation after Shafik failed to convince the organization that her administration was taking steps to create a tolerant environment for the university’s Jewish community, The New York Times reports.
Next steps
Shafik stated in her resignation announcement that she will return to the British House of Lords to work on the legislative agenda of the new U.K. government. In her place, Katrina Armstrong, dean of Columbia’s medical school, will serve as interim president.
