Shafik drew criticism over her dealing with of Gaza warfare protests that rocked the college campus earlier this 12 months.
Minouche Shafik, the president of Columbia College, has introduced her resignation after a tumultuous 12 months marked by tensions with workers and college students over her dealing with of campus protests towards the Gaza war.
The college introduced her departure in a press release on its web site on Wednesday.
“This era has taken a substantial toll on my household, because it has for others in our neighborhood,” Shafik wrote in a letter to the college’s workers and college students. “It has additionally been a interval of turmoil the place it has been troublesome to beat divergent views throughout our neighborhood.”
David Greenberg and Claire Shipman, co-chairs of the college’s Board of Trustees, mentioned they understood and revered her choice.
Protests towards the Gaza warfare started on Columbia’s New York Metropolis campus in April inspiring comparable encampments at different establishments throughout america and past.
Because the protests gathered momentum, Shafik was summoned to a congressional committee over allegations the college had failed to guard college students and workers from rising anti-Semitism.
The subsequent day, she allowed New York Metropolis police onto the campus to clear the protests and about 100 individuals had been arrested, triggering outrage from protesters and a few teachers and requires her resignation. Tensions rose additional on the finish of April, when police returned once more to campus, arresting some 300 individuals and eradicating the encampment.
“Over the summer time, I’ve been in a position to replicate and have determined that my shifting on at this level would greatest allow Columbia to traverse the challenges forward,” Shafik mentioned. “I’m making this announcement now in order that new management could be in place earlier than the brand new time period begins.”
Shafik’s resignation was welcomed by a number of the protesters, as properly those that had accused her of permitting anti-Semitism to flourish.
The trustees mentioned Katrina Armstrong would step in as Columbia’s interim president. She is at the moment the chief govt officer of the Columbia College Irving Medical Middle.
The brand new tutorial 12 months is because of begin on September 3.
Practically 40,000 individuals have been killed since Israel started its warfare in Gaza, after Hamas fighters launched a shock assault into Israel on October 7 final 12 months. At the least 1,139 individuals had been killed in that assault and a few 240 individuals taken captive.
The warfare in Gaza has diminished a lot of the Palestinian territory to rubble and displaced most of its residents.
South Africa has accused Israel of genocide in a case that’s now being investigated by the International Court of Justice.
