Columbia president addresses campus protests in statement: 'They were largely peaceful'

Columbia University President Minouche Shafik issued a statement on Friday in response to the campus protests that have proliferated across her university for weeks, referring to them as “among the most difficult in Columbia’s history.” 

She said the “turmoil and tension, division and disruption have impacted the entire community” and expressed sympathy with the students, who she claimed paid “an especially high price.”

She stressed her commitment to creating a safe space for all students: "No matter where you stand on any issue, Columbia should be a community that feels welcoming and safe for everyone.” 

Is it as safe as she claims?

There have been claims that Columbia is violating Title 6 of the Civil Rights act by creating a violent environment on campus. Some Jewish students wrote they no longer feel safe on campus.

Despite incidents of violence at the protests, including protestors smashing windows, barring Jewish professors from campus, and calling for an intifada, Shafik said, “People who gathered there [in the ecnampments] were largely peaceful and cared deeply about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”

She did, however, condemn the occupation of Hamilton Hall, saying it was “a violent act that put our students at risk, as well as putting the protestors at risk.”

Baroness Shafik is a British-American economist who has served as the 20th president of Columbia University since July 2023. She was born in Egypt to Muslim parents and attended LSE and Oxford.

WUJS (World Union of Jewish Students) addressed her in an open letter last week, saying to Shafik, “[You are] failing your Jewish students, allowing a culture of fear and hostility to prevail.”