(New York, NY) – Interim president Katrina Armstrong announced her resignation on Friday, becoming the second school leader to step down within the past year. Armstrong replaced the former president, Minouche Shafik, who stepped down in August. The school has made national headlines following pro-Palestinian demonstrations that included tents set up on the Morningside Heights campus and the protester takeover of a school building.
More recently, the school has become the target of President Donald Trump in his crackdown of campus protests. Trump threatened to pull $400 million in federal funds from the school unless they complied with a list of his demands. The school agreed to policy changes, and this staffing change appears to be part of requests from the White House. Trump’s joint task force fighting antisemitism called the step down “an important step toward advancing negotiations”. This comes as a former Columbia graduate student, Mahmoud Khalil, remains in ICE detention in Louisiana as he’s accused of spreading pro-Hamas propaganda through his organizing on campus.
