Elise Stefanik

08/14/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/14/2024 19:27

Stefanik Statement on Resignation of Columbia University President

Saratoga, N.Y. -Today, House Republican Chairwoman Elise Stefanik released the following statement in response to disgraced Columbia University President Minouche Shafik resigning.

"THREE DOWN, so many to go.

As I have said consistently since her catastrophic testimony at the Education and the Workforce Committee hearing, Columbia University's President Minouche Shafik's failed presidency was untenable and that it was only a matter of time before her forced resignation. After failing to protect Jewish students and negotiating with pro-Hamas terrorists, this forced resignation is long overdue. We will continue to demand moral clarity, condemnation of antisemitism, protection of Jewish students and faculty, and stronger leadership from American higher education institutions."

In April 2024, Congresswoman Stefanik, a senior member of the Education and the Workforce Committee, had multiple rounds of questionsfor President of Columbia University Minouche Shafik and Board of Trustees Co-Chairs Claire Shipman and David Greenwald about Columbia's failure to adequately respond to the spread of antisemitism on their campus following the terrorist attacks on Israel committed by Hamas terrorists on October 7th.

Later in April, Congresswoman Stefanik led a letter from the New York Republican delegation to President Shafik urging her to resign for failing to put an end to an unsanctioned mob of students and agitators involved in documented incidents of despicable antisemitic harassment and calls for violence and terrorism against Jewish students on Columbia's campus.

In May 2024, Stefanik sent a letter to Trustees of Columbia University Co-Chairs Greenwald and Shipman urging them to act immediately to remove President Shafik from her position and quickly secure student, faculty, and staff safety after a mob of antisemites overtook a university building. <_o3a_p>