Columbia University president resigns amid criticism over her response to anti-Israel protests

Minouche Shafik, the Columbia University president whose campus became an epicenter of unrest this year following Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, has resigned weeks before the start of the school year.

Shafik’s resignation, tendered Wednesday, comes after widespread, sustained criticism of how she handled pro-Palestinian protests that convulsed the Ivy League university since October 7.

“This period has taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has for others in our community,” Shafik writes in a message to the Columbia community. “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.”

Shafik, an economist, says she’s taking a role with the British government, resuming work that she had done before being taking the helm at Columbia just 13 months ago.