Columbia College’s interim president resigned from her place on the embattled Ivy League Friday night time, simply days after she instructed the Trump administration she would implement a masks ban — whereas privately promising college she wouldn’t.
Katrina Armstrong was booted from her place after the status college’s board of trustees doubted her capacity to guide negotiations with the Trump administration over the college’s $400 million in federal funding, sources instructed The Put up.
The information of Armstrong’s resignation was first reported by the Wall Road Journal.
“The action taken by Columbia’s trustees today, especially in light of this week’s concerning revelations, is an important step toward advancing negotiations as set forth in the pre-conditional understanding reached last Friday between the University and the Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism,” the federal Division of Training mentioned in a press release.
Armstrong’s resignation comes after the Trump White Home referred to as for a complete ban on masks at campus protests as a part of a sweeping checklist of reforms aimed toward cracking down on rampant antisemitism.
The college, which was given a month to conform or threat shedding its federal funding, caved and agreed to implement the adjustments final Friday — regardless of Armstrong privately downplaying the anti-Israel coverage to college.
In an try to avoid wasting face, Armstrong launched a press release earlier this week calling claims she defied Trump’s order “unequivocally false” whereas assuring the masks ban can be carried out with the complete assist of Columbia’s senior management staff and the Board of Trustees.
But it surely was too late, as transcripts from feedback she made to college revealed she renounced these very actions she vowed to take — which was the ultimate straw for college officers, in keeping with sources.
Armstrong instructed college students and college in a letter Friday that she is going to return to her position as chief govt officer of the college’s Irving Medical Heart.
“It has been a singular honor to lead Columbia University in this important and challenging time,” she wrote.
“This is one of the world’s great universities, in its most vital city, and I am proud to have worked with extraordinary faculty, students, and alumni. But my heart is with science, and my passion is with healing. That is where I can best serve this University and our community moving forward,” Armstrong continued.
“Over the last few months, I appreciate having had the opportunity to play a small part in navigating this vast enterprise through some of the most difficult moments in its history. The world needs Columbia University, and you can be assured that I will do everything I can to tell that story.”
Armstrong assumed the high-profile place in August 2024 when former president Minouche Shafik abruptly resigned and fled again to the UK after the elite establishment was marred by fixed — and typically harmful — anti-Israel protests that splashed Columbia throughout nationwide headlines.
Shafik, on the helm for lower than a yr, blamed the year-long “period of turmoil” for her surprising departure.
Critics slammed Shafik for not sufficiently cracking down on campus protests within the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, assault on Israel — till the tent encampments took over the Ivy League college’s garden within the weeks main as much as commencement.
Tons of of scholars have been arrested on trespassing expenses for refusing to pack up, however the demonstrations escalated when a harmful mob of masked pro-terror rioters illegally took over the Hamilton Corridor educational constructing final April.
Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, who spearheaded the student-led seizure, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement brokers earlier this month for his position in disruptive and, at occasions, violent anti-Israel protests at Columbia final summer season.
His arrest got here days after Trump yanked $400 million in grants and contracts from the Ivy League college, claiming Columbia didn’t adjust to anti-discrimination legal guidelines when it failed to guard Jewish college students.
Board of trustees co-chair Claire Shipman has been named performing president, efficient instantly, Columbia mentioned in a press release, including that she is going to serve till the board “completes its presidential search.”
“I assume this 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,” Shipman mentioned.
“Columbia’s new permanent president, when that individual is selected, will conduct an appropriate review of the University’s leadership team and structure to ensure we are best positioned for the future.”
Shipman has served on the board since 2013 and is a journalist and writer with a graduate diploma in worldwide affairs from the College of Worldwide and Public Affairs at Columbia, officers mentioned of their assertion.
She additionally has a Bachelor’s diploma in Russian research from Columbia Faculty.
