Columbia University President Resigns After School Accepts Trump’s Demands

Columbia University announced Friday that its interim president, Katrina A. Armstrong, was stepping down. The news arrives a week after the university caved to a list of demands from the Trump administration, which refused to restore $400 million in federal funding unless drastic concessions were made.

Armstrong had replaced former university President Minouche Shafik, who resigned last August after a firestorm of criticism of Shafik’s handling of student protests against the ongoing war in Gaza.

According to a statement from Columbia, Board of Trustees Co-Chair Claire Shipman has been appointed Acting President, effective immediately.

“Dr. 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,” said David J. Greenwald, Chair of the Board of Trustees. “Katrina has always given her heart and soul to Columbia. We appreciate her service and look forward to her continued contributions to the University.”

Armstrong will return to lead the school’s Irving Medical Center, per the statement.

Earlier this month, the Trump administration sent a letter to the university with nine demands to meet as a precondition to negotiations surrounding its federal funding. With $400 million in key funding on the line, one of the nation’s most prestigious and oldest universities conceded and agreed to ban students from wearing masks on campus for the purpose of concealing identity during protests, with exceptions for religious and health reasons. Columbia also agreed to increase its campus security by hiring 36 new security officers, who unlike in the past, will have the authority to arrest students, and to install a new senior vice provost to monitor the department of Middle East, South Asian and African Studies.

Columbia also stated its commitment to “greater institutional neutrality” and said it is “working with a faculty committee to establish an institution-wide policy implementing this stance.”

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