THE president of a university in America has resigned after facing intense scrutiny for her handling of protests over Israel’s war in Gaza.
Student protests at Columbia University earlier this year culminated in scenes of police officers carrying zip ties and riot shields storming a building that had been occupied by pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
It is one of several student protests to have sparked a global protest movement, including at several universities in Scotland where students set up encampments.
The Ivy League school’s president Baroness Minouche Shafik (below) – who was made a crossbench peer in the House of Lords in 2020 – held the position for just over a year.
She announced her resignation on Wednesday in an emailed letter to the university community just weeks before the start of classes.
It comes just days after the university confirmed three deans had resigned after officials said they exchanged disparaging texts during a campus discussion about Jewish life and antisemitism.
On Monday, the prestigious New York university began restricting campus access to people with Columbia IDs and registered guests, saying it wanted to curb “potential disruptions” as the new semester nears.
In her letter, Shafik heralded “progress in a number of important areas” but lamented that during her tenure it was “difficult to overcome divergent views across our community”.
She wrote: “This period has taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has for others in the community.
“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.”
Columbia’s board of trustees, meanwhile, announced that Katrina Armstrong, chief executive officer of Columbia University Irving Medical Centre, will serve as interim president.
“Challenging times present both the opportunity and the responsibility for serious leadership to emerge from every group and individual within a community,” said Armstrong, who is also the executive vice president for the university’s health and biomedical sciences.
“As I step into this role, I am acutely aware of the trials the university has faced over the past year.
Pro-Palestinian protesters first set up tent encampments on Columbia’s campus in mid-April, as Shafik was called for questioning at Congress after being accused by Republicans of not doing enough to combat concerns about antisemitism on campus.
During her testimony, Shafik denounced antisemitism but faced criticism for how she had responded to faculty and students accused of bias.
The school sent in police to clear the tents the following day, only for the students to return and inspire a wave of similar protests at campuses across the world, with students calling for schools to cut financial ties with Israel and the companies supporting the war.
Eventually, talks between the school and the protesters came to a standstill, and as the school set a deadline for the activists to clear out, a group instead took over another building.
Even after the protests were cleared, Columbia decided to cancel its university-wide commencement ceremony, instead opting for a series of smaller, school-based ceremonies.
Shafik said she will now return to the United Kingdom to lead an effort by the Foreign Secretary’s office to “review the government’s approach to international development”.
