Katrina Armstrong will resign “effectively” as a temporary president of Columbia University, the school said on Friday.
Armstrong was announced as a temporary president of New York City University in August 2024 after President Minouche Shapik at that time announced his resignation immediately, following students’ protests over the Israeli-Hama war who combined the campus.
The photo was not dated provided by Columbia University, August 16, 2024, showed the temporary president Dr. Katrina Armstrong.
Jorg Meyer Photography/Columbia University via AP
“Dr. Armstrong accepted the role of the president temporarily during a large uncertainty for the university and worked tirelessly to promote the interests of our community,” said David J. Greenwald, Chairperson of the Supervisory Board.
“Katrina always gives her heart and soul to Columbia. We appreciate her service and look forward to her continuous contribution to the university,” Greenwald said, Friday.
The school said Armstrong would return to lead the university Irving medical center and that the Chairman of the Supervisory Board Claire Shipman had been appointed as Acting President.
“I take this role with a clear understanding of serious challenges in front of us and firm commitment to act with the urgency, integrity, and work with our faculty to advance our mission, apply the necessary reforms, protect our students, and uphold academic freedom and open investigations,” Shipman said in a statement.
The news appeared a week after the university seems to submit Trump’s administrative demands after the threat to hold $ 400 million in federal funds.
The school posted a four -page memo last week entitled, “Advances our work to fight discrimination, harassment, and antisemitism in Columbia.”
Columbia agreed to prohibit the mask, one of the main demands of Trump’s administration, by saying in the memo, “Public safety has determined that face masks or face coverings are not permitted for the purpose of hiding a person’s identity in the Commission for Violation of University Policy or State, City, or Federal Law.”
The university also agreed to control more stringent control over the Ministry of Middle East Study, which will now be overseen by the new senior Provost representative who will “will conduct a comprehensive review of the program portfolio in regional regions throughout the university, immediately starting with the Middle East.”
The Columbia Supervisory Board issued a statement that supported the memo last weekend.
“We have and continue to support the temporary approach of President Armstrong, including today’s presentation of the progress of the university and very wise actions. We are grateful for their principle and brave leadership during the time that has never happened before, and for the steps he has and is taking to strengthen our institutions,” said the Supervisory Board.
Earlier this month, the former Postgraduate student at Columbia University Mahmoud Khalil was arrested with immigration and customs enforcement because of his involvement in protests last year.
Khalil was detained in the lobby of Columbia’s apartment building when he returned to his residence with his wife, according to Petition Habeas Corpus who challenged his arrest proposed by his lawyer.