Columbia University president Minouche Shafik has resigned from her post after alumni and donors called for her resignation following anti-Israel protests on campus. Melissa Korn and Douglas Belkin report for The Wall Street Journal:
Minouche Shafik resigned Wednesday as Columbia University’s president, ending an embattled 13-month term during which her New York City campus was the scene of a series of chaotic and sometimes violent protests by students, faculty and other activists.
Protests over the Israel-Hamas war began in October and continued through much of the winter at Columbia and many other schools. The protests intensified in April after Shafik testified before Congress.
The protests divided the campus, with many Jewish students saying they were fearful to pass by demonstrations. Shafik faced a backlash after calling on city police to break up an encampment, and again when students and others took over an academic building.
She has seen tenuous support from faculty and administrators, as well as calls from some alumni and donors to resign. She is the fifth Ivy League president to step down over the past year.
“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,” she wrote in a letter to the school community on Wednesday.
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