Columbia University Senate calls for investigation of university president over his response to Gaza protests

The Senate of Columbia University has called for an investigation into President Minouche Shafik and members of her administration in light of ongoing protests on campus against the Israel-Gaza war.

The Senate voted to adopt the resolution on Friday, accusing the administration of violating established protocols, undermining academic freedom and violating the due process rights of both students and professors, according to the Senate current events resolution, which was viewed by The Independent.

Ms. Shafik was heavily criticized for her decision to allow the New York Police Department (NYPD) to disperse protesters on campus, which led to the arrest of over 100 students.

The resolution was based in part on a damaging Senate committee report that accused Ms Shafik’s government of “taking many actions and decisions that have harmed the institution.” The resolution passed by a vote of 62 to 14, with three abstentions.

The resolution also calls for the establishment of a Senate working group to investigate future university decisions.

The resolution states, among other things: “We unreservedly condemn outside interference in the internal affairs of Columbia University, which undermines traditions of academic freedom and shared governance.”

Dr. Jeanine D’Armiento, chair of the University Senate’s Executive Committee, said, “Columbia University is an institution of teaching, research and learning. We are not a corporation, a media company, or an affiliate of a political party.”

“We have a joint administration structure, with the University Senate being the third branch of the University administration and functioning in a democratic manner alongside the President and the Board of Trustees, as stipulated in the University Charter,” she said in a statement issued with The Independent after the Senate meeting on Friday.

“As in any democracy with its structures and institutions, there are moments of challenge, even crisis, but these structures and institutions survive, adapt and ultimately thrive because we work together for the benefit of all members of our community.

“We recognize the external challenges, but we are united in our goal to chart a course forward and find productive ways to reunite our community.”

She continued, “Our goal today was first and foremost to tell our students that we support them. We want the administration to pivot and realize that they are running a university. Our message to students is also that, like you, we care about what happens when the media leaves our campus: We will keep pushing until the administration gets it right.

“Ultimately, we wanted to show our students the value of collective decision-making, where all parties are heard and the group comes to consensus through discussion.”

A later statement from Columbia University acknowledged the vote but said the administration and Senate “shared the same goal of restoring calm to campus so everyone can go about their educational activities.”

“We are committed to ongoing dialogue and appreciate the Senate’s constructive engagement in finding a way forward,” the statement said.

Despite the strong passage of the resolution to investigate Ms. Shafik and the administration, the Columbia Senate does not have the power to remove the President. The New York TimesSome said Friday that the outcome could further damage the relationship between Ms. Shafik and the Columbia community.

It is the latest blow to the beleaguered president, who has already been grilled by Republican members of Congress over anti-Semitism on college campuses. Although she struck a more conciliatory tone before the House Education and Workforce Committee than the presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, Ms. Shafik was later hit by a no-confidence motion from the Columbia chapter of the American Association of University Professors.

The AAUP reacted angrily to Ms. Shafik’s testimony before Congress, accusing her of capitulating to the demands of lawmakers who allegedly made “slanderous attacks” on teachers and students and later filed a no-confidence motion against her.

On Monday, Republicans from the New York delegation in the US House of Representatives called on Ms Shafik to resign in a letter, arguing that she had failed to create a safe learning environment in recent days and that “anarchy had broken out on campus”.

During a visit to Columbia on Wednesday, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson called on Shafik to resign “if she is unable to bring order to this chaos.” Johnson was loudly booed during his speech.

The original camps at Columbia University were set up in protest after students called on the university to end its financial ties to Israel in connection with the Gaza war. Protests at universities in other states, including USC and the University of Texas at Austin, made similar demands.

Less than two weeks after clashes between New York police and demonstrators in Columbia, the protests have sparked an international movement. On Friday, police in Paris attempted to disperse demonstrators who had occupied the Sciences Po campus in the French capital.