Columbia University president Minouche Shafik resigns after outrage over anti-Israel protests on campus

The president of Columbia University has resigned with immediate effect just a week after three of her deans quit over a leaked text message exchange which mocked concerns about anti-Semitism.

Minouche Shafik resisted demands for her resignation as protests against Israel brought the New York college to a standstill earlier this year but said on Wednesday that the ‘turmoil’ had taken ‘a considerable toll on my family’.

Donations began to dry up as wealthy benefactors reacted with disgust to the protests, and Shafik herself was widely criticized after appearing before Congress where she refused to say whether the phrase ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’, should be considered anti-Semitic.

But she infuriated students after calling in the NYPD to clear the campus of protesters, and refusing their demands to divest university money from Israel.

‘It has been distressing for the community, for me as president and on a personal level, to find myself, colleagues, and students the subject of threats and abuse,’ she said last night.

The university’s New York campus was one of dozens across the country that were rocked by anti-Israel protests earlier this year 

The texting occurred during a meeting in May at the Ivy League school in which Jewish students described the anti-Semitism that they were experiencing on campus in the wake of Hamas’ brutal assault on Israel on October 7.

The trio were put on leave, according to a letter from Shafik and University Provost Angela Olinto that was sent to members of the school community after the texts emerged in June.

The three in question are former Associate Dean for Student and Family Support Matthew Patashnick, Vice Dean and Chief Administrative Officers Susan Chang-Kim and former Dean of Undergraduate Student Life Cristen Kromm.

The meeting was titled Jewish Life on Campus: Past, Present and Future. It took place on May 31.

The text messages that have since been publicly released include Chang-Kim’s words: ‘Comes from such a place of privilege… hard to hear the woe is me, we need to huddle at the Kraft center. Huh??’

Kromm responds: ‘Amazing what $$ can do,’ while talking about an op-ed that was published in the school’s Columbia Spectator newspaper.

The messages were later published as part of an investigation by the House Committee on Education and Workforce.

Dean of Columbia College Josef Sorett was also on the text thread but did not participate as much. 

‘This incident revealed behavior and sentiments that were not only unprofessional, but also, disturbingly touched on ancient anti-Semitic tropes,’ Shafik told the school’s community.

‘Whether intended as such or not, these sentiments are unacceptable and deeply upsetting, conveying a lack of seriousness about the concerns and the experiences of members of our Jewish community that is antithetical to our University’s values and the standards we must uphold in our community.’

The emergence of the texts sparked fresh outrage on the campus, which was rocked by months-long anti-Israel protests in the wake of its war with Hamas

Portions of the text messages sent by the three deans that were released by congress last week

The Egyptian born Shafik was the first woman to serve as Columbia’s president will return to the UK where she is a member of the House of Lords

At 36, she became the youngest ever vice president of the World Bank. During her work there, she met her first husband, fellow Egyptian Mohamed El-Erian.

In 2002, Shafik married her second husband, scientist Raffael Jovine. The couple shares two children and three step children.

Their daughter, Olivia, is a 2015 graduate of Columbia’s urban planning school.

‘I have tried to navigate a path that upholds academic principles and treats everyone with fairness and compassion,’ she wrote in her resignation statement on Wednesday.

‘As President Lincoln said, ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand’—we must do all we can to resist the forces of polarization in our community.

‘I remain optimistic that differences can be overcome through the honest exchange of views, truly listening, and—always—by treating each other with dignity and respect.’