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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.
Her hardline stance triggered copycat protests and clashes between students and police at other campuses across the US and in other countries.
Shafik, a former senior figure at the World Bank and Bank of England who has been at Columbia for less than a year, said in her letter she had been asked by the new UK government to chair a review of “its approach to international development and how to improve capability”.
“I have tried to navigate a path that upholds academic principles and treats everyone with fairness and compassion. It has been distressing — for the community, for me as president and on a personal level — to find myself, colleagues, and students the subject of threats and abuse,” she added.
Columbia said Katrina Armstrong, chief executive of its Irving Medical Center, would serve as its interim president.
Armstrong said: “I am acutely aware of the trials the university has faced over the past year. We should neither understate their significance, nor allow them to define who we are and what we will become. The familiar excitement and promise of a new academic year are informed this year by the presence of change and continuing concerns, but also by the immense opportunity to look forward, to join together for the laudable mission we are here to serve, and to become our best selves individually and institutionally.”
