Columbia University interim president steps down a week after announcing sweeping policy changes

(CNN) — The interim president of Columbia University is stepping down, the school announced Friday, a week after announcing sweeping policy changes – seemingly bowing to the Trump administration’s demands conditioned on federal funding.

Dr. Katrina Armstrong took the helm of one of the nation’s elite universities under pressure last year for its policies and handling of campus protests, which only increased under the Trump administration. She was named interim president in August on the same day former president Minouche Shafik, facing scrutiny for her handling of Columbia campus encampments protesting the war between Israel and Hamas, stepped down.

Columbia University recently announced a series of new policies, making apparent concessions following President Donald Trump’s revocation of $400 million in federal funding over campus protests. 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, and immediately reviewing its Middle East curriculum, among others.

“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 J. Greenwald, chair of the board of trustees.

Claire Shipman, co-chair of the Columbia board of trustees, has been appointed acting president until the board can complete a presidential search, a university statement said.

Shipman has been on the board since 2013. She is a journalist and author who holds a graduate degree from Columbia, the school said.

In a statement to the community, Armstrong wrote: “Over the last few months, I appreciate having had the opportunity to play a small part in navigating this vast enterprise through some of the most difficult moments in its history.”

Before she was interim president, Armstrong, a doctor of medicine, served as executive vice president for the health and biomedical sciences department at Columbia and chief executive officer of the medical campus. She’s now returning to lead the university’s Irving Medical Center, the statement said.

When CNN reached out to Columbia University for comment, a spokesperson shared the university’s online statement.

‘We will be watching,’ House Republican says

The chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Republican Rep. Tim Walberg of Michigan, wished Shipman “good success” in her new role but warned: “We will be watching.”

“Now is not the time for Columbia University to regress as it works to combat the rampant antisemitism plaguing the school. So far Columbia has largely failed to uphold its commitment to Jewish students and faculty – leaving them to face harassment, intimidation, and even assault,” Walberg, whose committee has asked the school for detailed student disciplinary records, said in a statement.

Three federal agencies said they welcomed Columbia’s policy changes announced last week, apparently signaling the first steps of a possible restoration of money to the institution.

The Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Education and the General Services Administration called the Columbia moves a “positive first step.”

In a statement from Armstrong when the policy changes were announced last week, she said: “We have worked hard to address the legitimate concerns raised both from within and without our Columbia community, including by our regulators, with respect to the discrimination, harassment, and antisemitic acts our Jewish community has faced in the wake of October 7, 2023.”

Under the changes, protests are effectively banned inside and immediately outside academic buildings, and all demonstration activity is subject to the university’s anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies.

Labor unions representing professors and other educators this week sued the Trump administration over its revocation of $400 million in congressionally authorized federal research funding to Columbia. The lawsuit accuses the administration of leveraging the funds to compel speech restrictions on campus and forcing the school to surrender its academic independence.

Armstrong met with members of the faculty over the weekend to urge support of the policy changes, The Wall Street Journal reported. During the meeting, Armstrong told faculty leaders six federal agencies are investigating the school and could pull support, which would be “potentially devastating to our students in particular,” according to a transcript reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

She faced pushback during the meeting from concerned faculty members, the newspaper said.

While Columbia is caught in the crosshairs of the Trump administration zeroing in on campus protests and cracking down on immigration, many questions remain about how the announced changes will take shape as students return with less than two months left in the school year and tensions once again flaring in Gaza.

It was the first college to see its funding slashed as part of President Donald Trump’s threats to cut federal money to colleges accused of tolerating antisemitism amid the Israel-Hamas war that began in October 2023. The school has repeatedly stated it will not tolerate antisemitism.

The last academic year saw widespread campus unrest, including pro-Palestinian protests and encampments, counterprotests, building takeovers, arrests and scaled-back graduation ceremonies as Columbia became the epicenter of the nationwide demonstrations.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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