Opinion | Columbia University's President gets an 'F' for her resignation letter

By Philip Yeung, university teacher

PKY480@gmail.com

Columbia University's president, Minouche Shafik, has bowed out. After months of turmoil, with the arrest of over 400 Columbia students and the injury of some, followed by a stinging vote of no-confidence by the faculty, and the resignation of three of its deans, the inevitable has happened. She is the first female and the shortest-serving president in Columbia's history. Her only consolation is that she has outlasted "lettuce" Liz Truss' 49 days in no. 10 Downing Street. 

She signed her own death warrant by her disproportionate response to the peaceful protests. She came under fire from all corners—Pro-Palestinians crucified her for summoning the riot police to remove the tent encampments, trampling on their right to free speech and peaceful protests. Pro-Israeli groups attacked her for insufficiently protecting Jewish students. Politicians blasted her for pulling her punches in fighting antisemitism. Distrusted by students and faculty alike, she has managed to upset everybody. The writing is on the wall. Time to throw in the towel. 

In her resignation letter, she rattled off her so-called achievements as president. Perhaps her biggest "achievement" is triggering a wave of pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the US with a total of 3000 students arrested. That is an unremovable blemish on Columbia U's gold-plated reputation. In its aftermath, US universities are rushing through a change of rules on free speech, banning encampments, requiring protesters to register well in advance, and a slew of other restrictions—a naked suppression of free speech, long touted a core value of American higher education. If she has any legacy, it is ugly. 

Her letter, cliché-laden and awash in empty rhetoric, is silent on key facts. Not a word about what the protests were about. No mention of Gaza, or "antisemitism" either, as if these were garden variety protests. Reading her letter, you will never hear the angry outcry against the horrors of war. The world watches helplessly as the 2.3 million Gazan population is displaced, starving and homeless. The indiscriminate killing of babies and their mothers by Israeli bombs continues unabated. Homes, schools and mosques are reduced to rubble. This is a humanitarian disaster of biblical proportions. US-supplied weapons have slaughtered upwards of 92,000 civilians, according to 45 American doctors and nurses serving in the war zone. Netanyahu needs the war to rage on to stay in power. The wholesale slaughter serves only to satisfy one man's ego. Her letter, giving no context, is callous and unconcerned. It touches no one and changes no minds. She gets an F for her final effort.

Campus protests have already claimed the scalps of three Ivy League university presidents, U Penn, Harvard and now Columbia. 

Shafik is unapologetic. Instead, she complains of being subjected to "threats and abuse". She forgets to mention that she has brought these upon herself with her reckless decision to call in the riot police. The brutal action that smashed the sanctity of the campus has echoes of the Vietnam war protests in the 1960's. She babbles on about treating everyone with fairness and compassion. But I see no compassion for dead civilians. Nor can I accept her cruelty in withholding the graduation diplomas of students who are merely acting on the promptings of their conscience.

Columbia U, the cradle of such towering US presidents as Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, Eisenhower and Obama, has been brought low by a leader out of her depth, and out to save her own skin. She is Egyptian by birth and an economist by profession. She should have stayed at the World Bank, the IMF or the Bank of England, where she previously worked. She may be Egyptian but she doesn't have an ounce of compassion for the suffering of fellow Mideast Muslims. As an economist, she can't navigate the cut and thrust of politics. Uncomfortable in the hot seat, she is more at home in the regulatory bodies, where they wield authority unapologetically. Higher education decision-making is not her turf. 

Her letter fails to do what it is supposed to do. It neither explains nor apologizes. Nor does it calm the waters, oozing a residue of bitterness. With a short tenure, it is presumptuous for her to speak of making contributions to Columbia. But it is long enough for her to bring Columbia into disrepute. No one mourns her early departure. She lacks the stomach to face another wave of protests that will sweep across campuses in September. The tranquility of her next assignment beckons: an invitation by the British Foreign Secretary to chair a review of the UK's approach to international development. Let's just say: Britain's gain is not Columbia's loss.    

The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.

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