GOP lawmakers celebrate resignation of Columbia University president

A host of Republican lawmakers celebrated the resignation of Columbia University President Minouche Shafik following heavy scrutiny over her handling of the school’s protests and tensions over the Israel-Hamas war.

Shafik’s tenure, which began a little more than a year ago, saw the university become ground zero for pro-Palestinian demonstrations that roiled the New York campus and other schools across the country for weeks last spring. The demonstrations at Columbia involved student encampments, a building occupation and hundreds of arrests.

Shafik announced her resignation, effective immediately, in a Wednesday message to the Columbia community.

“It has also been a period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community. This period has taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has for others in our community,” she wrote.

GOP lawmakers, many of whom were central to the congressional investigation of antisemitism on college campuses, lauded her decision on social media.

“I stood in President Shafik’s office in April and told her to resign, and while it is long overdue, we welcome today’s news. Jewish students at Columbia beginning this school year should breathe a sigh of relief,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) wrote on the social platform X Wednesday, adding, “We hope that President Shafik’s resignation serves as an example to university administrators across the country that tolerating or protecting antisemites is unacceptable and will have consequences.”

Johnson, ahead of a visit to Columbia last April, called for Shafik to resign, arguing Jewish students have felt fear on their campus as a result of the protests and lack of administrative leadership.

House Republican Conference leader Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), who spent much of the last year investigating university presidents for their conduct in the wake of the protests, took a victory lap on X following Shafik’s announcement Wednesday.

“THREE DOWN, so many to go,” she wrote. “After failing to protect Jewish students and negotiating with pro Hamas terrorists, this forced resignation is long overdue. We will continue to demand moral clarity, condemnation of antisemitism, protection of Jewish students and faculty, and stronger leadership from American higher education institutions.”

She appeared to be referencing former University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill and former Harvard University President Claudine Gay, both of whom resigned during the past academic year in the wake of mounting criticism over their handling of antisemitic conduct on campus.

House Education and the Workforce Committee Chair Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) said Shafik’s tenure saw a “disturbing wave of antisemitic harassment, discrimination, and disorder” on campus, while looking ahead to future leadership.

“Columbia’s next leader must take bold action to address the pervasive antisemitism, support for terrorism, and contempt for the university’s rules that have been allowed to flourish on its campus,” Foxx wrote in a statement.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) similarly called Shafik’s resignation “long overdue” and alleged her administration “routinely undermined Jewish students’ rights.”

“Columbia’s next president must be committed to defending free speech AND the ability of all students to walk campus safely,” he wrote on X.

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), who is Jewish, wrote that Shafik “failed to demonstrate the moral clarity and leadership” of a university president and argued her resignation does not fix Columbia’s violations of Title VI, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin in programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance.

“Let this be a lesson to all who waver in the face of evil,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) added on X.