Rradical right-wing Republicans are demanding the dismissal of Minouche Shafik (61) because she is said to be doing too little against anti-Semitism on campus. Left-wing students and employees of Columbia University believe that she bends too much to the Republicans and takes too hard action against pro-Palestinian activists.
More than a week ago, Shafik called in the police to clear a tent camp of pro-Palestinian students on campus, to the anger of many students and scientists. On Friday, the university’s Senate – consisting of students, scientists and other staff – asked for an investigation into its conduct and those of its fellow administrators. Although the Senate does not have the power to dismiss her, she is under intense pressure.
About the author
Peter Giesen is foreign editor of de Volkskrant and writes about the European Union and international cooperation. Previously he was a correspondent in France.
Shafik is not the only university administrator who is experiencing difficulties due to the war in Gaza. In a polarized climate, university administrators must navigate between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli forces.
Shafik was born in 1962 in Alexandria, Egypt, the daughter of a wealthy landowner. When she was four years old, the family moved to the United States after President Nasser’s government expropriated most of the family assets.
She grew up in the southern US. “Sometimes when things go terribly wrong, you end up on a different path that might ultimately be better,” she said in the The Financial Times. “I think I would have lived a very conventional life if I had stayed in Egypt.”
After obtaining a master’s degree from the London School of Economics (LSE), most of her career has been based in the United Kingdom. She was, among other things, supervisor of the British Museum, deputy governor of the Bank of England and director of the same LSE. She was known as moderate and a good communicator.
Communication skills
In 2023, she transferred to Columbia University. According to The Financial Times After the first meeting, many staff members were impressed by her warmth and communication skills. After October 7, however, she quickly became entangled in the repercussions of the Gaza war on campus.
Pro-Palestinian students protested against the Israeli crackdown in Gaza and demanded that the university cut all ties with companies involved in the Israeli campaign. A number of anti-Semitic incidents occurred: Jewish students were verbally abused and intimidated. Rich donors from the university then threatened to withdraw their money.
Politics started to get involved. In mid-April, Shafik was scheduled to appear before a House of Representatives hearing. Radical right-wing Republicans put her on the rack with accusations about anti-Semitism on campus.
Pennsylvania and Harvard
A similar hearing in December proved fatal for the presidents of the universities of Pennsylvania and Harvard. They had to resign after answering questions about anti-Semitism evasively – Harvard President Claudine Gay also faced a plagiarism issue.
Shafik initially seemed to fare better. She promised to act against anti-Semitism. But after the hearing, Columbia students and employees accused her of cowardice. She would have listened to the radical right Republicans who only used the accusation of anti-Semitism to provide new ammunition for their own war against the American elite universities.
Moreover, the Republicans felt that Shafik still did too little. House Speaker Mike Johnson demanded her resignation. However, that is the sole responsibility of Columbia’s regulators. They continue to support her, they said on Wednesday.
Under heavy fire
Yet Shafik is suddenly under heavy fire after an exemplary career. ‘I don’t have to be the smartest in the room. And I try very hard to listen,” she said in 2021 The Financial Times about her leadership style. After the conversation, she emailed the interviewer another quote from the Taoist thinker Lao Tzu: “A leader is best when people hardly know he exists.”
Since the war in Gaza, everyone knows that Minouche Shafik exists. In the merciless light of publicity, she must now remain standing, navigating between criticism from left and right.
“It’s Catch-22,” said an acquaintance of Shafik’s The Financial Times. ‘The more you respond to right-wing attacks on campus culture, the more you undermine your position within the university. I don’t see how she survives this.’
3x Minouche Shafik
In 2021 she wrote a plea for a ‘new social contract’, which was published in the Netherlands under the title Together. She advocated a soft form of capitalism with a proper safety net, including by paying citizens for informal care.
As director of the London School of Economics, she came into conflict with the unions, who accused her of the fact that an increasing number of the academic staff were given temporary appointments. She was also criticized for her salary: she earned £539,000, while teachers’ wages did not increase.
Shafik was ennobled in 2020 and has since been allowed to call herself a baroness. She sits in the British House of Lords as a crossbencher, an MP who is not tied to the ruling party or the opposition.
Tags: Navigating leftwing rightwing criticism Columbia chairman Minouche Shafik entangled consequences Gaza war
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