Columbia University president resigns months after Free Palestine protests

New York, United States – AFP

The president of New York’s Columbia University resigned on Wednesday, just weeks before the start of the new school year, citing the toll taken by a “period of turmoil” after she faced scrutiny for her handling of demonstrations over Israel’s war on Gaza.

British-American economist Minouche Shafik is the fourth president of an Ivy League university to step down in the wake of the bitter divisions and anti-war protests that swept campuses nationwide.

The protests that roiled Columbia and other schools culminated in US Congress grilling higher education leaders about accusations of anti-Semitism and whether enough was being done to keep Jewish students safe.

Shafik, who last year became the first woman to lead Columbia, said in a letter to the university’s community that she felt her tenure had “made progress in a number of important areas” but noted it was also “a period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community.”

“This period has taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has for others in our community,” she said.

“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.”

She said her resignation was effective immediately, and announced she was taking a role with the UK Foreign Secretary to lead a review of the government’s approach to international development.

With the fall semester starting in just three weeks, Columbia’s board of trustees named Katrina Armstrong, the dean of the medical school, as interim president.

Columbia was the epicentre of the campus Free Palestine protest movement that spanned the United States and ignited heated debate about Washington’s support for Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.

Free Palestine activists set up encampments on Columbia’s campus in April while Shafik testified at a House committee investigating anti-Semitism.

Protesters — many who were themselves Jewish — said anti-Israel views were being conflated with anti-Semitism.

Columbia called in New York police to forcibly evict students occupying a building at the end of April, and cancelled its main commencement ceremony in May.

Last month, Columbia removed three administrators from their roles over text messages exchanged during a panel discussion about Jewish life on campus.

Shafik’s Ivy League counterparts Elizabeth Magill of the University of Pennsylvania and Claudine Gay of Harvard also resigned following their own Congressional hearings.

Martha Pollock, who did not appear before lawmakers, left Cornell University in July after controversy over disciplinary action against Free Palestine protesters.

Shafik said she found herself, students and colleagues subject to distressing “threats and abuse”.

“We must do all we can to resist the forces of polarization in our community,” she wrote.