The president of Columbia University, Minouche Shafik, has announced her resignation after a tumultuous year marked by tensions with staff and students over her handling of campus protests against the Gaza war.
The university announced her departure in a statement on its website on Wednesday.
“This period has taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has for others in our community,” Shafik wrote in a letter to the university’s staff and students. “It has also been a period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community.”
David Greenberg and Claire Shipman, co-chairs of the university’s Board of Trustees, said they understood and respected her decision.
Protests against the Gaza war began on Columbia’s New York City campus in April inspiring similar encampments at other institutions across the United States and beyond.
As the protests gathered momentum, Shafik was summoned to a congressional committee over allegations the university had failed to protect students and staff from rising anti-Semitism.
The next day, she allowed New York City police onto the campus to clear the protests and about 100 people were arrested, triggering outrage from protesters and some academics and calls for her resignation. Tensions rose further at the end of April, when police returned again to campus, arresting some 300 people and removing the encampment.
“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 said. “I am making this announcement now so that new leadership can be in place before the new term begins.”
Shafik’s resignation was welcomed by some of the protesters, as well those who had accused her of allowing anti-Semitism to flourish.
The trustees said Katrina Armstrong would step in as Columbia’s interim president. She is currently the chief executive officer of the Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
The new academic year is due to start on September 3.
Nearly 40,000 people have been killed since Israel began its war in Gaza, after Hamas fighters launched a surprise attack into Israel on October 7 last year. At least 1,139 people were killed in that attack and some 240 people taken captive.
The war in Gaza has reduced much of the Palestinian territory to rubble and displaced most of its residents.
South Africa has accused Israel of genocide in a case that is now being investigated by the International Court of Justice.
