Columbia President Steps Down After Blowback Over Campus Gaza Protests

Columbia University President Minouche Shafik has resigned, according to an email obtained by the Daily Beast.

“I write with sadness to tell you that I am stepping down as president of Columbia University effective August 14, 2024,” her note to students and faculty reads.

Shafik, who has served as president since July 2023, drew widespread criticism on both sides of the political spectrum for the university’s handling of pro-Palestine student protests that began towards the end of the spring semester.

Shafik said it was an “honor and privilege” to serve as the Ivy League school’s president, but also admitted “it has also been a period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community.”

A spokesperson for Columbia University confirmed that Shafik is stepping down and an interim president would take over.

“Over the summer, I have been able to reflect and have decided that my moving on at this point would best enable Columbia to traverse the challenges ahead,” Shafik wrote. The president, who is also a member of the British House of Lords, said she was stepping down to chair a committee by the UK Foreign Secretary to review “the government’s approach to international development and how to improve capability.”

Shafik faced criticism from students after calling the NYPD to clear out the protest encampment, and later a university building that was occupied by protesters.

The embattled president also faced criticism from the right, and testified before a Republican-lead congressional committee investigating antisemitism on college campuses in April.

“I have tried to navigate a path that upholds academic principles and treats everyone with fairness and compassion. It has been distressing—for the community, for me as president and on a personal level—to find myself, colleagues, and students the subject to threats and abuse,” Shafik wrote.

Columbia’s Board of Trustees accepted Shafik’s resignation in another email sent to the university’s staff and students. The same email announced Dr. Katrina Armstrong would take over as interim president.

Read more at The Daily Beast.