By Diyar Guldogan
WASHINGTON (AA) - US House Speaker Mike Johnson welcomed the resignation of Columbia University President Minouche Shafik on Wednesday.
"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," Johnson said in a statement.
His remarks came right after Shafik announced that she was stepping down after months of criticism over her handling of campus protests against Israel's war in the Gaza Strip.
"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," Johnson said.
The speaker added that he hopes "Shafik’s resignation serves as an example to university administrators across the country that tolerating or protecting antisemites is unacceptable and will have consequences."
The university announced that Katrina Armstrong, CEO of Columbia University Irving Medical Center, will take over as the interim president for the upcoming academic year, which begins in less than a month.
Student-led protests demanding universities condemn Israel's war on Gaza and divest from Israeli firms began in April and have served as a flashpoint for the wider anti-war movement after Shafik asked the New York Police Department (NYPD) to deploy to the school's campus on April 18, when over 100 people were taken into custody in an attempt to clear an encampment.
Demonstrators quickly adapted, however, and opened a new sit-in on another university lawn.
Shafik again requested the NYPD come to campus on April 30 to break up another protest site and clear students from an administrative building they had been occupying. In all, 112 people were taken into police custody.
This time around, Shafik requested that the NYPD maintain a presence on Columbia's campus until at least May 17 – the day after the school's multi-day graduation concluded – "to maintain order and ensure encampments are not reestablished."