Columbia College President Minouche Shafik resigned Wednesday, practically 4 months after the Ivy League college’s dealing with of protests on campus over Israel’s struggle in Gaza got here below hearth from each pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian camps.
“It has additionally been a interval of upheaval the place it has been tough to beat divergent opinions in our group,” Shafik stated in an e mail to employees and college students. “This era has taken a substantial toll on my household, because it has on others in our group.”
Shafik stated his departure “presently will enable Columbia to higher meet the challenges forward.” He stated he made the announcement in order that new management could possibly be in place earlier than the brand new time period begins.
In April and Could, Columbia College was rocked by the occupation of components of the Higher Manhattan campus by demonstrators protesting the deaths of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, resulting in tons of of arrests. Protesters denounced Shafik for calling police to the campus to cease the demonstrations, whereas supporters of Israel criticized her for not taking ample motion to suppress them.
Katrina Armstrong, Columbia’s government vice chairman for well being and biomedical companies, will function interim president, in response to the college’s web site.
Republican U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik of upstate New York, who criticized Shafik and different college leaders in congressional hearings over the nationwide Gaza protests, welcomed his resignation on X-Day, saying it was “overdue” due to his failure to guard Jewish college students.
Shafik, an Egyptian-born economist who holds British and American citizenship, was beforehand deputy governor of the Financial institution of England, president of the London Faculty of Economics and deputy managing director of the Worldwide Financial Fund.
She grew to become the twentieth president of Columbia College in July 2023.
After protesters arrange dozens of tents and demanded that the college promote its Israeli property, college officers tried to barter a cope with protesters to dismantle the camps.
When negotiations failed, Shafik took the weird step of calling within the New York police on April 18, angering many human rights teams, college students and school.
Greater than 100 folks have been arrested and tents have been faraway from the principle garden, however inside days the camp was again up and working. The college referred to as within the police once more on April 30, when 300 folks have been arrested at Columbia and the Metropolis School of New York.
Shafik then requested the police to stay on the scene till at the very least Could 17 – two days after commencement – “to keep up order and be sure that no camps are re-established.”
The continuing Gaza battle was sparked on Oct. 7 when Palestinian Hamas fighters attacked Israel, killing 1,200 folks and taking about 250 hostages, in response to Israeli counts.
Israel’s subsequent assault on the Hamas-ruled enclave has since killed practically 40,000 Palestinians, in response to the native well being ministry, whereas displacing practically the complete inhabitants of two.3 million folks, inflicting a starvation disaster and resulting in accusations of genocide on the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice that Israel denies.
