Why Columbia’s Senate Won’t Censure President Over Protests

Columbia University ’s faculty senate will vote Friday on a watered-down resolution rebuking school President Nemat Shafik for her handling of the Gaza protest that has rocked the campus and her testimony before Congress. The New York Times reports that the body is concerned that a vote to outright censure Shafik could result in her ouster at a time when she is under fierce pressure from Republicans in Washington, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, who took the extraordinary step of showing up to the campus. “It really isn’t a precedent any university wants to set,” Carol Garber, a professor of behavioral sciences and a senator, told the paper. “We shouldn’t be bullied by someone in Congress.” Shafik infuriated some senators by calling police to dismantle the encampment of protesters against the war in Gaza after its 13-member executive committee voted against such a move. At a faculty meeting this week, Shafik reportedly told faculty that bringing the NYPD onto campus failed to solve the problem because the protesters just moved camp.

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