The interim president of Columbia University is stepping down a week after acquiescing to the Trump administration over several of its demands to curb what federal officials called “relentless violence, intimidation and antisemitic harassment” on campus.
Katrina Armstrong said in a letter late Friday she would return to to previous roles she’d held with the university “as I planned when I took on this interim position, and with the support of the Board of Trustees.” The boards’ co-chair, television journalist Claire Shipman, has been appointed acting president during an ongoing search for a permanent leader.
Armstrong became interim president of the school in August of last year after the resignation of President Minouche Shafik amid criticism of the university’s handling of campus protests of Israel’s war in Gaza. More than 100 people were arrested in connection with a protest last spring at Columbia’s Morningside Heights campus. The school’s response to the protests saw it move classes online, ban speakers and restrict access to the campus.
But Trump administration officials alleged the school had allowed antisemitism to fester and threaten Jewish students — including citing the fact that some protestors wore masks over what students described as fear of harassment.
After federal officials say they would pull $400 million in federal funding — and sent the school a detailed list of demands it would need to meet get funds restored — Armstrong said late last week Columbia would ban most masks on campus, give dozens of campus police officers power to make arrests and conduct a “thorough review” of Middle East studies.
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce last month also demanded that Columbia University turn over disciplinary records related to 11 different campus incidents, prompting a lawsuit from students, including one facing deportation proceedings. The students alleged Columbia and the committee were looking to “chill the protected speech” of students.
Armstrong’s letter to the community made no direct mention of the policy changes or the handling of the protests, saying only that she appreciated the opportunity “to play a small part in navigating this vast enterprise through some of the most difficult moments in its history.”
Armstrong “accepted the role of interim president at a time of great uncertainty for the university and worked tirelessly to promote the interests of our community,” David J. Greenwald, chair of Columbia’s trustee board, said in a statement from the school. “Katrina has always given her heart and soul to Columbia. We appreciate her service and look forward to her continued contributions to the University.”
The school’s statement cited Shipman saying she took the role with “a clear understanding of the serious challenges before us and a steadfast commitment to act with urgency, integrity and work with our faculty to advance our mission, implement needed reforms, protect our students, and uphold academic freedom and open inquiry.”
Armstrong will return to her positions as CEO of the school’s Irving Medical Center, executive vice president for health and biomedical sciences and dean of the faculties of health sciences and medicine and the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.
— Includes previous reporting by Samantha Max and Stephen Rex Brown.
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