Protests against the war in Gaza have put intense pressure on U.S. college leaders, who are charged with bridging bitter campus divides while balancing free speech rights with concern for safety on campus.
On Tuesday, the president of Columbia University, Minouche Shafik, became the latest to resign under pressure for the handling of protests.
Like many of her counterparts, Shafik faced blowback from many corners: Some students groups blasted her decision to invite police in to arrest protesters. Republicans in Congress and others called on her to do more to call out antisemitism. And the university’s arts-and-science faculty passed a no-confidence resolution against her.
Here is a look at other college leaders who have resigned or faced hard questioning.
University of Pennsylvania
Liz Magill of Penn was the first of three Ivy League presidents to resign following contentious appearances before Congress, ahead of Harvard’s Claudine Gay and Shafik at Columbia.
Magill stepped down in December after less than two years on the job. She faced pressure from donors and criticism over testimony at a congressional hearing where she was unable to say under repeated questioning that calls on campus for the genocide of Jews would violate the school’s conduct policy.
Criticism of Magill rained down from the White House, Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and members of Congress. Lawyers for a major donor to Penn, Ross Stevens, threatened to withdraw a gift valued at $100 million because of the university’s “stance on antisemitism on campus” unless Magill was replaced.
Harvard University
Claudine Gay, Harvard’s first Black president, faced similar criticism for offering lawyerly answers at the same hearing before a U.S. House committee on antisemitism on college campuses. Gay apologized, telling the student newspaper she failed to properly denounce threats of violence against Jewish students.
Gay resigned in January, announcing her departure just months into her tenure.
Following the congressional hearing, Gay’s academic career came under intense scrutiny by conservative activists who unearthed several instances of alleged plagiarism in her 1997 doctoral dissertation. Gay, in her resignation letter, said it was distressing to have her commitment to confronting hate questioned and frightening “to be subjected to personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus.”
Columbia University
Shafik lamented in her resignation letter that during her tenure it was “difficult to overcome divergent views across our community.”
Pro-Palestinian protesters first set up tent encampments on Columbia’s campus during Shafik’s congressional testimony in mid-April, when she denounced antisemitism but faced criticism for how she responded to faculty and students accused of bias.
Despite weathering the tumult that followed, she said she decided over the summer to step down. “This period has taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has for others in the community,” she wrote.
Her announcement also came just days after the school confirmed three deans had resigned after officials said they exchanged disparaging texts during a campus discussion about Jewish life and antisemitism.
Others who have been on the hot seat
Many other administrators have endured calls to resign from members of Congress and segments of their campus communities.
President Sally Kornbluth of MIT, for one, was questioned at the same hearing as Magill and Gay but did not face the same pressure to step down. She said at the hearing that speech targeted at individuals, not public statements, would be considered a violation of bullying and harassment policies. The chair of the MIT Corporation signaled its support for Kornbluth, who is Jewish.
Others, including University of Massachusetts Chancellor Javier Reyes, have faced ferocious criticism from faculty members for calling in police to break up peaceful demonstrations when protesters refused to leave. Reyes has defended calling in law enforcement as the last resort.
College leaders who struck agreements with students to resolve demonstrations also have faced the ire of Congress members. At a hearing last May, Northwestern President Michael Schill and Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway told lawmakers they defused the danger without ceding ground to protesters.
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