Katrina Armstrong can be stepping down “efficient instantly” as Columbia College’s interim president, the college mentioned on Friday.
Armstrong was introduced because the interim president of the New York Metropolis college in August 2024 after then-President Minouche Shafik announced her rapid resignation, following scholar protests over the Israel-Hamas warfare that roiled the campus.
This undated picture supplied by Columbia College, Aug. 16, 2024, exhibits interim President Dr. Katrina Armstrong.
Jorg Meyer Images/Columbia College through AP
“Dr. Armstrong accepted the position of interim president at a time of nice uncertainty for the College and labored tirelessly to advertise the pursuits of our group,” mentioned David J. Greenwald, chair of the Board of Trustees.
“Katrina has at all times given her coronary heart and soul to Columbia. We respect her service and stay up for her continued contributions to the College,” Greenwald mentioned on Friday.
The college mentioned Armstrong can be returning to guide the college’s Irving Medical Heart and that Board of Trustees Co-Chair Claire Shipman has been appointed appearing president.
“I assume this position with a transparent understanding of the intense challenges earlier than us and a steadfast dedication to behave with urgency, integrity, and work with our college to advance our mission, implement wanted reforms, shield our college students, and uphold tutorial freedom and open inquiry,” Shipman mentioned in a press release.
The information comes every week after the college appeared to have ceded to the Trump administration‘s calls for after a risk to withhold $400 million in federal funds.
The college posted a four-page memo final week entitled, “Advancing Our Work to Fight Discrimination, Harassment, and Antisemitism at Columbia.”
Columbia agreed to ban masks, one of many Trump administration’s key calls for, saying within the memo, “Public security has decided that face masks or face coverings usually are not allowed for the aim of concealing one’s identification within the fee of violations of College insurance policies or state, municipal, or federal legal guidelines.”
The college additionally agreed to stricter controls over its Center East Research division, which is able to now be overseen by a brand new senior vice provost who “will conduct a radical evaluate of the portfolio of packages in regional areas throughout the College, beginning instantly with the Center East.”
Columbia’s Board of Trustees issued a press release supporting the memo final weekend.
“We’ve and proceed to help Interim President Armstrong’s strategy, together with as we speak’s presentation of the College’s progress and deeply considerate actions. We’re grateful for her principled and brave management throughout this unprecedented time, and for the steps she has and is taking to strengthen our establishment,” the Board of Trustees mentioned.
Earlier this month, former Columbia College graduate scholar Mahmoud Khalil was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement because of his involvement in final yr’s protests.
Khalil was detained within the foyer of a Columbia-owned residence constructing whereas returning to his residence together with his spouse, in accordance with the habeas corpus petition difficult his arrest filed by his attorneys.
