President of Columbia University Minouche Shafik resigned from her position on Wednesday after a controversial term of criticism over how she handled the student’s protest against Israel’s war in Gaza.
Shafik is the third Ivy League president and the most recent university president to resign due to controversies over handling student protections related to the conflict.
Campuses are hotspots of activism, mobilization, and protest. Tensions have risen due to Israel’s war in Gaza, which the US supports military and diplomatic aid, sparking mass protests on many campuses. While some protestors expressed concerns about feeling insecure and encountering antisemitism, others demanded divestment and an end to the current assault on Gaza.
College presidents have been criticized for handling the war, the protests that followed, and students’ activities. Parents, board members, students, donors, and advocacy groups have pressured them.
Martha Pollack of Cornell, the fourth Ivy League president, also resigned but claimed to have been “deliberating” before the protests.
Minouche Shafik, president of Columbia University
Minounche Shafik resigned from her top position on August 14 after serving in it for over a year. She described her tenure there as “a period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across the community.”
Supporters on both sides of the conflict criticized her. Pro-Palestinian protestors took over parts of the campus in April and May, sparking hundreds of arrests and police crackdowns that the demonstrators denounced and attributed to the Shafik. She didn’t deal with the protestors firmly enough, according to the pro-Israel advocates.
Liz Magill, President of the University of Pennsylvania
From July 2022 until her resignation in December 2023, Magill served as the president of the University of Pennslyvania. Some students, donors, and board members criticized her for what they saw as her inactions in addressing antisemitism on campus after the war broke out.
On December 5, Magill testified before Congress regarding antisemitism on college campuses alongside other university presidents, such as Claudine Gay of Harvard and Sally Kornbluth of MIT. Despite her condemnation of antisemitism during her testimony, some deemed her responses evasive.
More controversies were created by an exchange with Republican Representative Elise Stefanik, who questioned whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” would be against the school’s code of conduct. “If the speech turns into conduct, it can be harassment, yes,” Congresswoman Magill replied, adding, when challenged, “It is a context-dependent decision.”
She announced her resignation four days later.
Claudine Gay, President of Harvard University
Gay served as the university’s first Black president for six months before stepping down, which was the shortest tenure in Harvard history.
Her congressional testimony and the university’s handling of Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7 drew criticism and calls for her resignation.
In contrast to the other recently resigned president, she was subjected to additional charges of plagiarism following criticism of her management of her protests.
Martha Pollack, President of Cornell University
Pollack announced in May that she would be resigning on June 30 after serving as the university’s president for seven years.
She noted in her resignation that “I understand that there will be lots of speculation about my decision, so let me be as clear as I can: This decision is mine and mine alone,” even though it was made during a campus protest during which some pro-Palestian students protestors faced disciplinary action.
“Indeed, I began deliberating about this last fall and made the decision over the December break; but three times, as I was ready to act on it, I had to pause because of events on our and/or on other campuses. But continued delay is not in the university’s best interests.”
