Columbia University President Forced to Resign for Mishandling Campus Protests
Columbia University President Minouche Shafik resigned Wednesday after facing intense criticism for her handling of pro-Palestinian protests on campus, becoming the third Ivy League president to step down over issues related to Gaza war protests. Shafik, who had served just over a year, faced growing pressure after authorizing New York police to dismantle student encampments protesting the Israeli genocide in Gaza, actions that faculty and students decried as heavy-handed.
Her resignation follows those of Liz Magill of the University of Pennsylvania and Claudine Gay of Harvard University, both of whom stepped down under similar circumstances. Magill resigned in December after failing to clarify her stance on alleged antisemitism during a congressional hearing, while Gay faced scrutiny for her responses to similar questions and allegations of plagiarism.
Shafik, who previously led the London School of Economics, had been criticized for her response to faculty and students accused of bias following her testimony before Congress on alleged antisemitism in April. The Columbia campus became a focal point for nationwide student-led protests demanding divestment from companies linked to Israel, which escalated after the Gaza conflict intensified last October.
In her resignation letter, Shafik cited the difficulty of bridging the university’s divided community and the toll it took on her family. Katrina Armstrong, dean of Columbia’s medical school, has been appointed interim president.
The resignations highlight the challenges university leaders face in balancing free speech and safety while navigating intense political pressures. Other institutions, like MIT and UMass, have also seen their leaders criticized for their handling of campus protests, though they have not yet faced the same level of fallout as their Ivy League counterparts
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