Columbia University president resigns following Israel-Hamas protests

Colombia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In the email, Shafik said there was “a period of turmoil where it was difficult to overcome divergent views in our community.” She said that after being able to reflect over the summer, she decided that stepping down was best for Columbia’s future.

“This period has had a considerable impact on my family, as it has on others in our community,” Shafik wrote.

She said stepping down now, just weeks before the new semester begins, would allow new leadership to be in place at the start of the new term.

Dr. Katrina Armstrong, dean of the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, announced in a follow-up email that she will serve as interim president.

Shafik also announced his next steps, saying Britain’s foreign secretary had asked him to chair a review of the government’s approach to international development.

The economist became Columbia’s 20th president in July 2023, just three months before the Israel-Hamas war began, throwing universities into chaos.

Shafik was the latest Ivy League president to resign amid criticism of the universities’ response to campus anti-Semitism and war-related protests.

Elizabeth Magill, then president of the University of Pennsylvania, resigned in December shortly after appearing at a widely watched congressional hearing. In January, Claudine Gay, then president of Harvard University, who also appeared at the hearing, resigned.

Shafik appeared at a congressional hearing in April, during which he took a tougher stance against anti-Semitism than other university presidents had in previous hearings.