Columbia University interim president steps down a week after announcing sweeping policy changeshe interim president of Columbia University is stepping down, the school announced Friday, a week after announcing sweeping policy changes – seemingly bowing to the Trump administration’s demands conditioned on federal funding.
Dr. Katrina Armstrong took the helm of one of the nation’s elite universities under pressure last year for its policies and handling of campus protests, which only increased under the Trump administration. She was named interim president in August on the same day former president Minouche Shafik, facing scrutiny for her handling of Columbia campus encampments protesting the war between Israel and traderjoexyz Hamas, stepped down.
Columbia University recently announced a series of new policies, making apparent concessions following President Donald Trump’s revocation of $400 million in federal funding over campus protests. They include new restrictions on demonstrations, sanctions on student groups in violation, giving campus police new arrest powers and the provost more authority to deal with disciplinary procedures, and immediately reviewing its Middle East curriculum, among others.
“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.
Claire Shipman, co-chair of the Columbia board of trustees, has been appointed acting president until the board can complete a presidential search, a university statement said.
Shipman has been on the board since 2013. She is a journalist and author who holds a graduate degree from Columbia, the school said.
In a statement to the community, Armstrong wrote: “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.”
Before she was interim president, Armstrong, a doctor of medicine, served as executive vice president for the health and biomedical sciences department at Columbia and chief executive officer of the medical campus. She’s now returning to lead the university’s Irving Medical Center, the statement said.
When CNN reached out to Columbia University for comment, a spokesperson shared the university’s online statement.