Columbia has lost another president. Katrina Armstrong has been the interim president at Columbia since former president Minouche Shafik resigned last August. Armstrong has been attempting to negotiate with the Trump administration to get $400 million in funding restored and has taken a lot of criticism from the left for giving in to the administration’s demands. On Friday she announced she was stepping aside so a acting president could take over.
The interim president of Columbia University abruptly left her post Friday evening as the school confronted the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding and the Trump administration’s mounting skepticism about its leadership.
The move came one week after Columbia bowed to a series of demands from the federal government, which had canceled approximately $400 million in essential federal funding, and it made way for Columbia’s third leader since August. Claire Shipman, who had been the co-chair of the university’s board of trustees, was named the acting president and replaced Dr. Katrina Armstrong…
Less than a week ago, the Trump administration had signaled that it was satisfied with Dr. Armstrong and the steps she was taking to restore the funding. But in a statement on Friday, its Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism said that Dr. Armstrong’s departure from the presidency was “an important step toward advancing negotiations” between the government and the university.
If you haven’t been following this closely, the Trump administration made a list of demands and last weekend it seemed Armstrong and the school were prepared to meet most of them. Secretary of Education McMahon released a statement saying Columbia was on its way to having the funding restored. But last Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Armstrong had been sending mixed messages. In a chat with Columbia administrators and professors she indicated the school wouldn’t really be following through on some of the demands.
In the conversations with faculty, Armstrong also downplayed the changes agreed to with the Trump team. One issue Armstrong highlighted was the mask policy. While Columbia’s letter to the Trump team agreed to ban masks that conceal identity during unauthorized protests, Armstrong told faculty there was no mask ban.
Secretary McMahon responded to that report saying the school must comply if it wanted to restore funding.
“They have to abide and comply with the terms that we have set down and [we’ve] talked with them and they’ve agreed to,” McMahon told a small group of reporters over breakfast at the Education Department’s headquarters near Capitol Hill.
In short, Katrina Armstrong appeared to lie to the Trump administration and that was quickly noticed on Monday. By Friday she was gone and the Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism seemed to approve of her departure. It sounds like that became another Trump administration demand and this one was met pretty quickly.
Taking over as acting president is journalist Claire Shipman who was formerly a correspondent on ABC’s Good Morning America. Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg wished her luck but said his committee would 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. Thankfully, the Trump administration is ushering in an era of common sense, and this Committee is working diligently alongside it to continue the momentum we’ve created in addressing antisemitism. But the school and its administrators must put in the work to combat this evil. Ms. Shipman, while we wish you all good success, we will be watching closely.”
It’s too early to say if Shipman will take a different approach to the job or if she’ll just try to continue the process of having the $400 million in funding restored. My guess is the latter as it’s a bit late for a show of protest. But who knows. There is still lots of pressure from the left who would rather see the school fight the demands, no matter what it costs.
Meanwhile, I notice today that Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) the coalition leading the protests at Columbia, no longer has an Instagram account. There are some articles from December saying they had been kicked off Instagram, but the account was still active as recently as a week ago. Now it’s gone. That’s going to make it harder for them to organize even as the pressure on them seems to be increasing.
Update: Apparently this just happened. Other people are noticing this morning.
🚨 BREAKING: CUAD removed from Instagram.
CUAD = the coalition behind pro-Hamas protests at Columbia.
🔴 Glorified Hamas & Hezbollah
🔴Intimidated Jewish students
🔴 Occupied buildingsInstagram acted. @Columbia hasn’t!
When will the university protect its students?… pic.twitter.com/RRInpqXidj
— Canary Mission (@canarymission) March 31, 2025
Why is this happening now? Possibly because of this lawsuit.
