Columbia University has announced that interim President Katrina Armstrong, will be stepping down one week after announcing sweeping policy changes.
Armstrong, who was named interim president in August, took the helm amid policy and campus protest pressure.
"The Board has now appointed Co-Chair Claire Shipman as the Acting President, effective immediately," Armstrong said in an announcement on the university's website on Friday.
"Dr. Armstrong accepted the role of interim president at a time of great uncertainty for the University and worked tirelessly to promote the interests of our community," said David Greenwald, chair of the board of trustees.
"Board of Trustees Co-Chair Claire Shipman has been appointed Acting President, effective immediately, and will serve until the Board completes its presidential search," according to the statement released by the school.
"I assume this role with a clear understanding of the serious challenges before us and a steadfast commitment to act with urgency, integrity, and work with our faculty to advance our mission, implement needed reforms, protect our students, and uphold academic freedom and open inquiry," said Shipman.
The Department of Education said, in regards to the announcement, that it's an important step to combat alleged antisemitism.
"The action taken by Columbia's trustees today, especially in light of this week's concerning revelation, is an important step toward advancing negotiations as set forth in the pre-conditional understanding reached last Friday between the University and the Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism," the department said.
The changes include an overhaul to the campus protest policies and a review of the college's Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies Department, the Center for Palestine Studies and the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies.
Mounting pressure
The development comes after the university recently yielded to Trump's pressure, announcing new policies in a bid to restore $400 million in federal funding.
They include new restrictions on demonstrations, sanctions on student groups in violation, giving campus police new arrest powers and the provost more authority to deal with disciplinary procedures, immediately reviewing its Middle East curriculum, among other measures.
Columbia was a flashpoint in protests that began in 2024 and ran through the school year as students demanded an end to Israel's war on the besieged Gaza, and for their institutions to divest from the country.
The student-led demonstrations at Columbia quickly became a model for scholars on campuses nationwide as student encampments spread rapidly.
