Speaker Johnson: Columbia President's Resignation 'Overdue'

Jewish students at Columbia University should "breathe a sigh of relief" for the "long overdue" resignation of the school's president, Minouche Shafik, according to House Speaker Mike Johnson.

"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 in a statement.

"We hope that President 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 Louisiana Republican added.

Shafik announced her resignation in a message to the university on Wednesday, saying that she was leaving immediately.

Earlier this year, the Columbia campus in upper Manhattan was at the center of protests about the Israel-Hamas war. The protests spread to college campuses nationwide, leading to the arrests of thousands of people and disrupting graduation ceremonies, and Shafik said in her statement the protests were part of her decision to leave.

She wrote that she plans to return to the United Kingdom, where she will lead an effort through the foreign secretary's office to review the government's approach to international development.

Johnson pointed out that he was in Shafik's office in April, where he told her to resign.

"While it is long overdue, we welcome today's news," Johnson said.

He added that he's grateful to House leaders who have been investigating the "scourage of antisemitism on college campuses, particularly Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx and House GOP Chairwoman Elise Stefanik."

He said their questions "inspired a nationwide backlash to the coddling of pro-Hamas radicals on campuses across America."

Columbia in July removed three deans as well after reports that they had exchanged disparaging text messages during a campus discussion on Jewish life and antisemitism. The deans resigned earlier this month.

Shafik said in a June 8 letter to the university that their texts "disturbingly touched on ancient antisemitic tropes."

Sandy Fitzgerald ✉

Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics. 

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