Columbia University president Minouche Shafik urged other university higher-ups to “engage in serious soul searching” over the fallout from the campus protests in a new op-ed about campus free speech.
“We must do a better job of defining the boundaries between the free speech rights of one part of our community and the rights of others to be educated in a place free of discrimination and harassment,” Shafik, 61, wrote in the Financial Times.
Shafik — who was formally inaugurated just three days before the Hamas terror attack — is currently the subject of a no-confidence vote from arts and sciences faculty at the university over her handling of the protests, the New York Daily News reported.
The school includes about 1,000 of the 4,600 full-time faculty at the university.
Additionally, the first of a series of smaller commencement kicked off Friday at Columbia after the school canceled its main graduation ceremony last week, citing security concerns.
In the new op-ed, Shafik claimed that the majority of the campus activists are “passionate, intelligent and committed” — and blamed the chaos and hateful rhetoric on “the actions and antisemitic comments of some.”
The first tent encampment emerged on a Columbia lawn in mid-April, on the same day that Shafik delivered flaky testimony on campus antisemitism before the House Education and Workforce Committee.
During the height of the protests, Shafik faced serious scrutiny — and even calls to resign — from both sides of the political aisle when she initially appeared to cave to the protesters.
The issue came to a head after the university finally demanded the protesters disband the tent camp.
That’s when protesters stormed and occupied a campus building, causing Shafik to give the green light for a massive NYPD raid that resulted in dozens of arrests.
Antisemitism controversy at Columbia University: Key events
- More than 280 anti-Israel demonstrators were cuffed at Columbia and the City of New York campuses overnight in a “massive” NYPD operation.
- One hundred and nine people were nabbed at the Ivy League campus after cops responded to Columbia’s request to help oust a destructive mob that had illegally taken over the Hamilton Hall academic building late Tuesday, NYC Mayor Eric Adams and police said.
- Hizzoner blamed the on-campus chaos on insurgents who have a “history of escalating situations and trying to create chaos” instead of protesting peacefully.
- Columbia’s embattled president Minouche Shafik, who has faced mounting calls to resign for not cracking down sooner, issued a statement Wednesday saying the on-campus violence had “pushed the university to the brink.”
- Columbia University president Minouche Shafik was accused of “gross negligence” while testifying before Congress. Shafik refused to say if the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is antisemitic.
- More than 100 Columbia professors signed a letter defending students who support the “military action” by Hamas.
- Not affiliated with school: 13
- Students at affiliated institutions: 6
- Undergrad students: 14
- Grad students: 9
- Columbia employees: 2
In her essay, Shafik insisted that school officials “engaged in serious, good faith dialogue with protesters” — but added that she and other head honchos in higher education must “engage in serious soul searching about why this is happening.”
“If colleges and universities cannot better define the boundaries between free speech and discrimination, government will move to fill that gap, and in ways that do not necessarily protect academic freedom,” she suggested.
Shafik — who was deputy governor of the Bank of England and had plum jobs at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund before getting the Columbia gig — also wrote that Columbia and other schools need to heal in order to move forward productively.
“Rather than tearing ourselves apart, universities must rebuild the bonds within ourselves and between society and the academy based on our shared values and on what we do best: education, research, service and public engagement,” she opined.
Despite Shafik’s call for soul-searching, divisions at Columbia and other Ivy League institutions still run deep: On Friday morning, police in riot gear stormed the University of Pennsylvania encampment and arrested several protesters.
