Columbia University’s new interim president referred to Congressional hearings over antisemitism on college campuses as “Capitol Hill nonsense.”
Claire Shipman, a former CNN correspondent, co-chaired Columbia’s board of trustees before she stepped into the role of interim president on Friday. The previous interim president, Katrina Armstrong, stepped down amid a struggle with the Trump administration over the college’s handling of antisemitism on campus.
The new university head takes over as the school negotiates for $400 million in taxpayer funding rescinded by the Trump administration. While her effectiveness remains to be seen, Shipman appears to have been at odds with Republicans on Congressional hearings on antisemitism in December 2023.
On December 28, 2023, Shipman sent a message to then-university president Minouche Shafik calling the congressional hearings “Capitol Hill nonsense,” according to The New York Post. The hearings focused on pro-Palestinian and pro-Hamas protests and antisemitism that had broken out on college campuses after the October 7 terror attack on Israel. The presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and MIT testified.
Shipman told Shafik that she believed Columbia would be spared from the scandal that erupted over the hearings and preceded the exit of both Harvard’s and Penn’s presidents. Shipman also encouraged Shafik to show leniency to student groups banned during the raucous protests, which included illegal actions such as vandalism and taking over campus buildings.
“I do think we should think about unsuspending the groups before semester starts to take the wind out of that,” Shipman said.
Shipman’s sentiments at the time were revealed in an October report from the Republican House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
The Trump administration has stripped Columbia University of hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funding over its policies and practices regarding antisemitism on campus. Under Armstrong, Columbia agreed to reform its policies, reportedly sparking blowback from faculty and staff that the university had conceded too much.
The university announced Armstrong’s replacement last week.
“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,” Shipman said in a statement. “Columbia’s new permanent president, when that individual is selected, will conduct an appropriate review of the University’s leadership team and structure to ensure we are best positioned for the future.”
