Republican politicians applauded embattled Columbia University president Minouche Shafik’s sudden resignation Wednesday — with some accusing the scholar of allowing antisemitism to run rampant on the Ivy League campus.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Shafik’s resignation was “long overdue” and comes four months after he encouraged her to step down from the job.
“As a result of President Shafik’s refusal to protect Jewish students and maintain order on campus, Columbia University became the epicenter for virulent antisemitism that has plagued many American university campuses since Hamas’ barbaric attack on Israel last fall,” the lawmaker said in a scathing statement.
“Jewish students at Columbia beginning this school year should breathe a sigh of relief … 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.”
Shafik confirmed she was leaving the elite university after just one year at the helm, a tenure that was marred by constant — and sometimes destructive — anti-Israel protests.
She admitted in a letter to the student body that the “period of turmoil” inspired her shock departure.
Several members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce — who probed Shafik and other Ivy League presidents over rising antisemitism on their campuses — recognized Shafik’s departure as a result of their investigation.
New York Rep. Elise Stefanik celebrated the news in a statement referencing the fallen presidents of the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who resigned from their roles earlier this year.
“THREE DOWN, so many to go,” Stefanik wrote, adding that her “failed presidency was untenable and that it was only a matter of time before her forced resignation.
“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 added.
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), who chaired the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, accused Shafik of allowing a “disturbing wave of antisemitic harassment, discrimination, and disorder” to flourish on Columbia’s campus.
“Jewish students and faculty have been mocked, harassed, and assaulted simply for their identity. Every student has the right to a safe learning environment. Period. Yet, flagrant violations of the law and the university rules went unpunished,” Fox wrote.
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) also referenced Shafik’s testimony in front of the house committee — where she refused to say whether the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” should be considered antisemitic.
“This is long overdue,” Lawler said on X.
“I have been calling for President Shafik to be ousted or resign ever since her abysmal failure to condemn Columbia’s antisemitic outbursts or ensure the safety of Jewish students on her campus. Let this be a lesson to all who waver in the face of evil.”
Even Democrats piled on.
New York Rep. Richie Torres said the university under Shafik’s tenure had been “exposed as ground zero for campus antisemitism in NYC.”
“I hope the new leadership will summon the moral clarity and the moral courage to confront the deep rot of antisemitism at Columbia’s core,” he fumed.
Shafik announced she was leaving Columbia in a shocking letter to the school community Wednesday — following months of mounting calls to resign over her handling of the protests, which broke out following Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion of Israel.
Critics claimed Shafik was not sufficiently cracking down on campus protests until the tent encampments took over the Ivy League school’s lawn in the weeks leading up to graduation.
The scholar said the “period has taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has for others in our community.”
“Over the summer, I have been able to reflect and have decided that my moving on at this point would best enable Columbia to traverse the challenges ahead,” she wrote.
Dr. Katrina Armstrong, the CEO of the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, will step in as interim president, the school announced.
