[wat0n]

Not for all of them, and for those whose charges were dropped is simply because there is no footage of them invading and vandalizing property because they covered the CCTV cameras (it is like when DAs sometimes drop the charges against cops who cover their bodycams after killing someone). The charges for others who were caught vandalizing property and/or assaulting police officers are still standing AFAIK, even though they were offered to be on probation.

[Deutschmania]

And now , in the latest development , Columbia President , Minouche Shafik , resigns, citing toll of controversy over pro-Palestinian protests on campus.

Minouche Shafik, the Columbia University president whose campus became an epicenter of unrest this year following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, has resigned weeks before the start of the school year.

Shafik’s resignation, tendered Wednesday, means she is stepping down after about a year in the role. Her decision comes after widespread, sustained criticism of how she handled pro-Palestinian protests that have convulsed the Ivy League university since Oct. 7.

“I write with sadness to tell you that I am stepping down as president of Columbia University effective August 14, 2024,” Shafik wrote in an email to the university on Wednesday evening. She said she had achieved progress in her role but added that “it has also been a period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community.”

She wrote, “This period has taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has for others in our community. Over the summer, I have been able to reflect and have decided that my moving on at this point would best enable Columbia to traverse the challenges ahead.” A pro-Palestinian student encampment that launched on campus last spring, timed to her testimony in Congress on antisemitism at Columbia, inspired similar protests at universities around the world. The encampment captured global attention when some of its activists forcibly occupied a campus building, leading to a large police operation and dozens of arrests.

Her resignation means that the heads of four of the eight Ivy League schools have now stepped down in the wake of controversies tied to Oct. 7. The leaders of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University resigned following their own widely panned testimony on campus antisemitism. Months later, the president of Cornell University stepped down.

“Columbia University’s President Minouche Shafik’s failed presidency was untenable,” Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, the face of the congressional crusade against campus antisemitism, tweeted upon learning of Shafik’s resignation. “After failing to protect Jewish students and negotiating with pro Hamas terrorists, this forced resignation is long overdue.”

Antisemitism scandals at the school persisted even after classes let out. Last week, three Columbia deans resigned after getting caught sending disparaging messages about Jewish speakers at a campus panel on antisemitism during the peak of the protests.

“Here’s hoping the trustees appoint a successor who is willing to enforce policies, hold students/faculty accountable, and create a safe campus environment,” tweeted Elisha Baker, a student at the school and co-chair of the pro-Israel group Columbia Aryeh.

Shafik was only months into her tenure and only weeks into the first school year as president when Hamas attacked, launching a war in Gaza that is ongoing.

Tensions at the school began nearly immediately as a coalition of pro-Palestinian groups principally blamed Israel for the violence and called on the school to cut ties with it. Days later, an Israeli student was attacked on campus while putting up hostage posters in what police treated as a hate crime.

As pro-Palestinian as well as pro-Israel protests ramped up, Columbia began restricting access to its campus. Shafik also began taking heat for not issuing a harsher condemnation or responding more forcefully to the protesters, who Jewish students claimed were creating a disruptive and hostile atmosphere. A month into the crisis, Columbia banned Students for Justice in Palestine as well as Jewish Voice for Peace, two pro-Palestinian groups that it said violated school policies. Columbia was the first university to ban JVP, a Jewish group.

A turning point came on April 17, when Shafik appeared before a congressional panel appointed to investigate antisemitism on college campuses. Testifying in Congress, she said Columbia could do more to combat antisemitism. Back at Columbia, pro-Palestinian students took over a portion of the main lawn and launched their encampment.

The fallout has continued ever since. Pro-Israel voices have expressed dissatisfaction over conditions on campus for Jewish and pro-Israel students. Pro-Palestinian voices have remained furious over the police crackdown. And even New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who has expressed disdain for the protesters, became frustrated by the high costs incurred by the university’s request for police intervention.

And even before Shafik’s resignation, there were signs that the school expects the turmoil to continue. Columbia announced last week that it would continue to keep its campus closed to outsiders this fall, in anticipation of renewed protests.

Shafik, an economist, said she was taking a role with the British government, resuming work that she had done before being taking the helm at Columbia just 13 months ago.

Katrina Armstrong, the CEO of Columbia’s medical center 50 blocks north of the main campus, will serve as interim president, the Columbia Spectator student newspaper reported.

“I fully appreciate the profound responsibility of meeting the needs of the many constituencies that make Columbia University the renowned leader in higher education that it is,” Armstrong wrote in a message to the university circulating online. “With optimism and resolve, let us move forward together, embracing the opportunity to renew our vision and strengthen our community.”

Some who had criticized Shafik celebrated her resignation. “After months of chanting ‘Minouche Shafik you can’t hide’ she finally got the memo,” tweeted Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine. “To be clear, any future president who does not pay heed to the Columbia student body’s overwhelming demand for divestment will end up exactly as President Shafik did.”

Others cautioned against feeling relief about the leadership change.

“People on all sides of the issue should exercise patience,” tweeted Eliana Goldin, a student in the joint undergraduate program of Columbia and the Jewish Theological Seminary and another co-chair of Columbia Aryeh. “The next person may be even worse for your cause…” https://www.jta.org/2024/08/14/united-states/columbia-president-minouche-shafik-resigns-amid-widespread-criticism-of-her-handling-of-pro-palestinian-protests

[wat0n]

She forgot to mention she's going back to the House of Lords, so she's got a gig going on plus she doesn't have to deal with entitled pro-Palestine leftists.

[QatzelOk]

...All four if these groups enjoy more societal and economic power than the protesters themselves, and in the case of government officials, the use of government power to suppress debate is anti-democratic.

The use of government power to suppress debate *during a genocide* tells you all you need to know about Western democracy and how it created mercenary nation-states in the Western hemisphere.

[wat0n]

As if pro-Israel students were allowed to get near the pro-Palestine encampments at all

What kind of "debate" was that?

[Pants-of-dog]

Who was forbidding pro-Isreal students from doing anything?

The government? No. They were too busy arresting anti-genocide protesters.

The faculty? No. They were too busy calling the cops to arrest anti-genocide protesters.

The wealthy? No. They were too bust cutting funding snd doxxing anti-genocide protesters.

It seems like everyone who had any power was helping the pro-Israel students any way they can.

[wat0n]

The protesters, of course, who constantly blocked the passage of Jewish students and also Zionists.

I will note they certainly had power to do so, at least until schools complied with their legal obligations.

[Pants-of-dog]

Os the only example is a few individuals who did nothing except stand in someone’s way. This has a negligible impact on campus debate,

This is in comparison to the wealthy donors, businesses, universities, and government officials who all stopped anti-genocide protesters from exercising their rights. These have significant impacts on campus debate.

[wat0n]

How can there be any campus debate when students who support Israel, are Israeli or are Jewish are harassed and physically impeded on campus?

I will note those "few individuals" enjoyed and still enjoy the full support of the left-wing segregationist students, staff and faculty.

[Pants-of-dog]

How can there be any campus debate when students who criticize Israel, are Palestinian or are Muslim are harassed and physically impeded on campus, not only by other students, but also by university officials, police, politicians, and wealthy donors?

I will note those many groups and individuals enjoyed and still enjoy the full support of the right-wing segregationist students, staff and faculty, as well as government, large portions of the business community, and other powerful people in society.

[wat0n]

No pro-Palestine students have been physically impeded on campus for their speech.

The only reason they have is because they've engaged in harassment, trespassing and vandalism, which is totally fine. And even then, they had to do quite a lot of those, particularly vandalizing university property.

[Pants-of-dog]

No pro-Israel students have been physically touched when impeded on campus for their speech.

Anti-genocide students, on the other hand. have been arrested, physically impeded, assaulted, had laws passed against them, had their funding threatened, had chapters of their organizations forcefully disbanded, and had the universities themselves target them.


Some pro-Israel students have engaged in harassment, trespassing and vandalism, which is totally fine, according to police, politicians, university officials, and donors. And because of this, they have been able to get away with a lot, particularly vandalizing university property and doxxing students.

[wat0n]

Too bad @Pants-of-dog cannot provide examples of his nonsense.

I have already done so and shown examples of harassment of Jewish students (who may not even be pro-Israel).

[Pants-of-dog]

If there is a specific claim that I have made that has not been shown to be supported, please let me know.

[wat0n]

I already mentioned one

[Pants-of-dog]

@wat0n

Unless you can be specific as to which claim, I cannot help you.

[wat0n]

@Pants-of-dog if you're too illiterate to understand which one, I can't help you (although you aren't, and this is just a way to avoid providing your evidence).

[QatzelOk]

I already mentioned one

Yes, you did.

(two-line post)

[wat0n]

There's no reason to repeat myself.

It's up to him to provide evidence for his claims. I bet it will go like his conspiracy theories regarding Claudine Gay.

[Pants-of-dog]

Since no one is specifying the claim I supposedly did not support, it is impossible for me to support it.

I always giggle a bit to myself when supposed debaters on this forum are unable to even tell people what their argument or criticism is.