Columbia University president Katrina Armstrong steps down amid clashes with Trump over campus protests

The interim president of Columbia University is stepping down from her role amid a high-profile battle with the Trump administration. 

Katrina Armstrong said in a letter to staff on Friday that she would be standing down to make way for her successor Claire Shipman to take the reins of the school. 

In it, she said that she ‘appreciated the opportunity’ of being able to ‘navigate this vast enterprise through some of the most difficult moments in its history’.

Armstrong added: ‘The world needs Columbia University, and you can be assured that I will do everything I can to tell that story.’ 

In a statement from the school, they said Armstrong would be returning to lead the University’s Irving Medical Center. 

It comes just days after the school agreed to meet President Trump’s demands for policy changes after he threatened to pull the plug on $400 million in grants. 

Those demands centered around widespread protests on campus concerning Israel’s war with Hamas, which the administration said was handled badly. 

The president launched the dramatic move ‘due to the school’s continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students,’ his administration said.

The protests last year were allowed to run rampant for two weeks, and were marked by violent assaults and instances of Jewish students being afraid to go to class. 

Trump’s Education Secretary Linda McMahon said: ‘Since October 7, Jewish students have faced relentless violence, intimidation, and anti-Semitic harassment on their campuses – only to be ignored by those who are supposed to protect them.

‘Universities must comply with all federal anti-discrimination laws if they are going to receive federal funding.’

The announcement coincided with recent anti-Israel campus protests at Columbia’s Barnard College, which Trump aggressively condemned. 

In her letter announcing the changes, Armstrong said the university would immediately appoint a senior vice provost to conduct a thorough review of the portfolio of its regional studies programs, ‘starting immediately with the Middle East.’

Columbia will also revamp its long-standing disciplinary process and bar protests inside academic buildings. 

Students will not be permitted to wear face masks on campus ‘for the purposes of concealing one’s identity.’ An exception would be made for people wearing them for health reasons.

In an effort to expand ‘intellectual diversity’ within the university, Columbia will also appoint new faculty members to its Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies department. 

It will also adopt a new definition of antisemitism and expand programming in its Tel Aviv Center, a research hub based in Israel.

The protests at the school have recently led to the detention of Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil. 

Khalil 30, was on the front lines of the rowdy pro-Palestine demonstrations last year that consumed college campuses all across the country.

In late April 2024, hundreds of students set up an encampment at Columbia, taking over the quad while protesting the ongoing war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

On April 30, dozens of protestors took over Hamilton Hall and barricaded themselves inside before hanging a ‘Free Palestine’ banner from a window.

That same night, New York City police officers decked out in riot gear stormed the building and also cleared out the encampment.

Prior to the protest being busted up, Khalil was the prime conduit between the students and university administration.

The government is seeking to deport him under a statute that allows for removing noncitizens who pose ‘potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences’.

The Department of Homeland Security claimed he had ‘led activities aligned to Hamas’ and that the action was taken ‘in coordination with the Department of State.’

The president accused Khalil of being ‘pro-Hamas’ and Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared the US would revoke visas and green cards of ‘Hamas supporters’.

He has not been charged with a crime. He is also married to a U.S. citizen who is eight months pregnant.