President of Columbia University Minouche Shafik resigned on Wednesday after a brief, turbulent tenure in which the head of the prestigious New York university faced fierce criticism for her handling of protests and divisions on campus related to the war between Israel and Hamas.
The Ivy League university in Upper Manhattan was rocked by student demonstrations this year, culminating in Scenes of police officers with zip ties and riot shields storming a building occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters. Similar protests took place on university campuses across the country, many of which resulted in violent clashes with police and thousands of arrests.
The announcement comes just days after the school confirmed that three deans had resigned After officials said they exchanged derogatory text messages during a campus discussion about Jewish life and anti-Semitism.
Shafik was also one of the university directors asked to be interviewed before Congress earlier this year. She was heavily criticized by Republicans who accused her of not doing enough to address concerns about anti-Semitism on the Columbia University campus.
Shafik, who took office in July last year, announced her resignation in an emailed letter to the university community just weeks before classes were set to begin on Sept. 3. The university had begun restricting access to campus on Monday to people with Columbia IDs and registered guests, saying it wanted to contain “potential disruption” ahead of the new semester.
In her letter, Shafik announced “progress in a number of important areas” but lamented that during her time in office “it had been difficult to overcome differing views in our community.”
“This time has been very stressful for my family, as well as others in the community,” she wrote. “Over the summer, I was able to reflect and concluded that my departure at this point would best help Columbia meet the challenges ahead.”
Meanwhile, the Columbia University Board of Regents announced that Katrina Armstrong, CEO of Columbia University Irving Medical Center, will serve as interim president.
“Challenging times present both the opportunity and the responsibility for every group and individual within a community to demonstrate serious leadership,” said Armstrong, who is also vice chair for the university’s health and biomedical sciences. “As I take on this role, I am acutely aware of the challenges the university has faced over the past year.”
Pro-Palestinian protesters Initial setup Tent encampment on the Columbia University campus during Shafik’s testimony before Congress in mid-April, during which she condemned anti-Semitism but was criticized for her response to faculty and students accused of bias.
The school sent the police to clear the tents The next day, the students returned and inspired a wave of similar protests On college campuses across the country, students called on universities to cut their financial ties to Israel and the companies that support the war.
As the protest continued for weeks, the school came into the national spotlight. Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson showed to denounce the camp, while Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez came to support it.
Eventually, talks between the school and the protesters came to a halt, and when the school gave the activists a deadline to leave the building, took over Hamilton Hall.
Even after the protests were cleared, Columbia decided cancel the university-wide graduation ceremonyand instead opted for a series of smaller, school-based ceremonies.
Campus has been mostly quiet this summer, but a conservative news outlet in June published images of alleged text messages exchanged among the administration during the May 31 panel discussion “Jewish Life on Campus: Past, Present and Future.”
The officials were removed from their postsIn a letter to the school community on July 8, Shafik wrote that the messages were unprofessional and “touched on old anti-Semitic topoi in a disturbing way.”
Shafik’s critics immediately cheered the end of her term, which was one of the shortest in school history.
Johnson, House Speaker, said her resignation was “long overdue” and should serve as a warning to other university administrations that “tolerating or protecting anti-Semites is unacceptable and will have consequences.”
The student group Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine wrote in a Post on social media platform X that Shafik has “finally understood” after months of protests. The campus branch of Jewish Voice for Peace wrote “We will not be appeased by her dismissal, as the university’s repression against the pro-Palestinian student movement continues.”
Other prominent Ivy League leaders have resigned in recent months, largely because of their response to violent protests on campus.
University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill resigned in December after less than two years in office under pressure from donors and criticism because of a statement made at a congressional hearing where, despite repeated questioning, she was unable to say that calls for genocide against Jews on campus would violate the school’s code of conduct.
And in January, Harvard University President Claudine Gay resigned due to allegations of plagiarism and similar criticism about her testimony before Congress.
Shafik said she would return to the UK to lead a Foreign Office initiative to review the government’s approach to international development.
“I am very excited and grateful for this opportunity to once again work on combating global poverty and promoting sustainable development, areas that have interested me all my life,” she wrote.
Shafik was the first woman to take on this role, joining several Women who have been newly appointed to the reins at Ivy League institutions.
The Egyptian-born economist previously headed the London School of Economics, but made a name for herself outside of academia in positions at the World Bank, the British Department for International Development, the International Monetary Fund and the Bank of England.
When Shafik was appointed, Jonathan Lavine, chairman of the Columbia Board of Trustees, described her as a leader with “unwavering confidence in the critical role that higher education can and must play in solving the world’s most complex problems.”
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Associated Press reporter Jake Offenhartz in New York contributed to this story.