By Yehuda @Adobe Stock
Douglas Belkin of The Wall Street Journal reports that a congressional hearing in December sparked outrage over how top universities dealt with antisemitism. After the hearing Harvard, MIT, and UPenn came under intense scrutiny, with presidents of two universities resigning. Now it’s Columbia’s turn to face legislators. Belkin writes:
Four months after a congressional hearing prompted the resignations of two Ivy League university presidents, the leader of Columbia University is set to face questions Wednesday from the same committee trying to determine how she has protected students as protesters rage against Israel and the war in Gaza.
Columbia President Nemat “Minouche” Shafik has the advantages of hindsight and months to prepare. She was invited to the Dec. 5 hearing but was speaking at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai. She has the added pressure of contending with increased anger at Israel and Zionists, fueled largely by the growing civilian casualty count in Gaza. […]
Born in Alexandria, Egypt, Shafik was raised in the U.S. where she attended about 10 different schools, mostly in the South, before studying economics and carving out a career in global development at the International Monetary Fund. She became a deputy governor at the Bank of England and later led the London School of Economics before joining Columbia last year.
She has a lot of experience guiding complex organizations and dealing with conflict, Carnoy said, including large protests at the London School of Economics.
Read more here.
