Columbia U president resigns after months of criticism over lacking response to anti-Israel protests

4 out of 8 Ivy League heads have resigned amid controversies tied to Gaza War

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The president of Columbia University, Minouche Shafik, announced that she would resign from her post just weeks before the start of the new school year. The previous months saw her campus become the epicenter of anti-Israel protests in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.

Shafik came under criticism for her perceived lack of response to the campus protests that gripped Columbia University, as well as her testimony before a Congressional panel investigating antisemitism on college campuses, where she said her school could do more to combat antisemitism.

“This period has taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has for others in our community,” Shafik wrote a letter announcing her resignation. “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.”

With Shafik’s resignation, the heads of four of the eight prestigious “Ivy League” universities, University of Penn, Harvard, Cornell and now Columbia University, have now stepped down from their posts amid controversies connected to Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

In May, a pro-Palestinian student group established an encampment that inspired tent camps with antisemitic slogans on campuses across the West. When activists took control of a building, New York Police intervened, forcibly clearing the site and arresting hundreds of people.

Shafik later released a letter to the NYC Police commissioner requesting that a police presence remain on campus “to maintain order and ensure that encampments are not re-established.”

Shafik was then invited to testify before the House Education Committee over the university’s handling of antisemitism during anti-Israel protests.

“During Shafik’s presidency, a disturbing wave of antisemitic harassment, discrimination, and disorder engulfed Columbia University’s campus. Jewish students and faculty have been mocked, harassed and assaulted simply for their identity,” Republican U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, chairwoman of the Education and the Workforce Committee, said following Shafik’s resignation.

Republican U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, a member of the committee that previously called for Shafik’s removal, concurred, saying that “it was only a matter of time” before she resigned.

“After failing to protect Jewish students and negotiating with pro-Hamas terrorists, this forced resignation is long overdue,” Stefanik stated.

Campus unrest is expected to continue despite Shafik’s resignation. Last week, the university said outsiders would not be allowed to enter the campus this fall to prevent renewed protests.