Columbia University, which acquiesced to a Trump administration ultimatum last week that preserved funding and has been dealing with the backlash since, is now on its third president since August. Katrina Armstrong, who held the job on an interim basis, announced her resignation Friday evening, the New York Times reports. The board of trustees then named Claire Shipman, its cochair, as acting president while a search is conducted for a more lasting leader. It was Armstrong who announced that Columbia, facing accusations that it's not doing enough to fight antisemitism on campus, was agreeing to the Trump demands.
Still, the school's Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism said in a statement Friday that Armstrong's removal from the post is "an important step toward advancing negotiations" with the federal government. She'll return to being CEO of the university's Irving Medical Center, per the Columbia Spectator. Armstrong took over the presidency from Minouche Shafik, who resigned in August after a tenure of just over a year while facing intense criticism over the handling of campus protests against the Israeli attacks in Gaza.
In an all-campus email, the New York university said Shipman has "a clear understanding of the serious challenges facing our community." In her own statement, per the Guardian, she pledged "to act with urgency" to protect students and "implement needed reforms." Republican Rep. Tim Walberg, chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said Columbia has to do more to "to uphold its commitment to Jewish students and faculty." He told Shipman that "while we wish you all good success, we will be watching closely." (More Columbia University stories.)
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