POLITICO @politico Minouche Shafik is the third Ivy League leader forced from office after anger over Israel's war in Gaza resulted in widespread campus protests.
Minouche Shafik, the president of Columbia University in New York, has resigned following months of criticism over her handling of student protests after the outbreak of war between Hamas and Israel. In a letter to Columbia faculty and students on Wednesday she described “a period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community”. The decision comes ahead of the new academic year, with many universities braced for fresh student protests and renewed focus by politicians in the build-up to November’s US presidential election. Shafik’s departure follows that of presidents from two other Ivy League schools, the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard. All three had come under sharp attacks in Congress during hearings focused on antisemitism on campus and the treatment of Jewish students. The president of Cornell, who had also faced criticism for her handling of claims of antisemitism on campus, in May announced her resignation ahead of the end of her mandate, which she said was her own decision. The presidents were targeted by a number of high-profile alumni donors who threatened to withdraw funding to their former universities. Shafik angered faculty by revealing the names of academics who were still under investigation for alleged antisemitism while being questioned in Congress, as well as for suspending students and calling in New York police to break up encampments on campus.
Minouche Shafik is the third Ivy League leader forced from office after anger over Israel's war in Gaza resulted in widespread campus protests.
The decision comes ahead of the new academic year, with many universities braced for fresh student protests and renewed focus by politicians in the build-up to November’s US presidential election.
Shafik’s departure follows that of presidents from two other Ivy League schools, the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard. All three had come under sharp attacks in Congress during hearings focused on antisemitism on campus and the treatment of Jewish students.
The president of Cornell, who had also faced criticism for her handling of claims of antisemitism on campus, in May announced her resignation ahead of the end of her mandate, which she said was her own decision. The presidents were targeted by a number of high-profile alumni donors who threatened to withdraw funding to their former universities.
Shafik angered faculty by revealing the names of academics who were still under investigation for alleged antisemitism while being questioned in Congress, as well as for suspending students and calling in New York police to break up encampments on campus.