Columbia President resigns after months of campus protests over Israel’s war in Gaza

New York (Quds News Network)- Columbia University President Minouche Shafik resigned on Wednesday, nearly four months after the university’s handling of campus protests over Israel’s war in Gaza drew criticism.

Shafik becomes the third president of an Ivy League university to step down in the wake of campus protests over Israel’s war in Gaza.

In a letter sent Wednesday to the Columbia community, Shafik cited progress during her tenure but said it has “also been a period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community.”

Shafik made the announcement now so new leadership could be in place before the new term begins on Sept. 3, when student protesters have vowed to resume protests.

“It has… been 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,” Shafik said.

The university announced Katrina Armstrong, dean of Columbia’s medical school, would serve as interim president. Armstrong said in a statement she was “acutely aware of the trials the University has faced over the past year,” Reuters reported.

In April and May, Columbia was rocked as protesters occupied parts of the New York City campus in opposition to Israel’s genocide war in Gaza, resulting in hundreds of arrests. The pro-Palestine demonstrators denounced Shafik for calling police onto campus to halt the demonstrations.

On April 18, Shafik took the unusual step of asking New York police to enter campus, angering rights groups, students and faculty, after encampments were not cleared voluntarily.

More than 100 people were arrested and the tents removed, but within days the encampment was back in place. The university called police back in on April 30, when they arrested 300 people at and near Columbia and the City College of New York. Some protesters were injured in the arrests.

Students with Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a group behind the protests, welcomed the resignation but said it should not become a distraction from their efforts to have Columbia divest from companies that support Israel’s military and its occupation of Palestinian territories.

“We hope that Columbia will finally appoint a president that will hear the students and faculty rather than appeasing Congress and donors,” said Mahmoud Khalil, one of the group’s lead negotiators with the school’s administration.

Two other Ivy League presidents have resigned after facing congressional critics. Liz Magill of the University of Pennsylvania stepped down in December 2023 and Claudine Gay of Harvard quit a month later.

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