Elise Stefanik, all NY House GOP lawmakers demand Columbia President Minouche Shafik resign immediately
House Republican conference chairwoman Elise Stefanik and every New York GOP House lawmaker demanded on Monday that Columbia president Minouche Shafik resign immediately for failing to crack down on “a large unauthorized antisemitic riot” that has engulfed the university’s campus.
“It is time for Columbia University to turn the page on this shameful chapter. This can only be done through the restoration of order and your prompt resignation,” Stefanik and the nine other Republican representatives from the Empire State wrote in a letter exclusively obtained by The Post.
“We, the undersigned members, urge you to step down immediately so that someone who will take action against this mob can step up to meet the moment this crisis demands.”
The House Republicans denounced the “anarchy” at the Morningside Heights campus that has unfolded over the past few days, with in-person classes canceled on Monday and a prominent rabbi urging Jewish students at Columbia and Barnard to go home before the start of Passover.
“As the leader of this institution, one of your chief objectives, morally and under law, is to ensure students have a safe learning environment. By every measure, you have failed this obligation,” they wrote. “While the rot is systemic, the responsibility rests squarely on your shoulders.”
The other New York Republican co-signatories included Reps. Nicole Malliotakis, Claudia Tenney, Nick Langworthy, Nick LaLota, Andrew Garbarino, Anthony D’Esposito, Marc Molinaro, Brandon Williams and Mike Lawler.
Stefanik and bipartisan members of the House Education and Workforce Committee grilled Shafik last week over her failures to protect Jewish students from intimidation, harassment and even assaults by anti-Israel demonstrators after Hamas killed an estimated 1,200 people — including 33 US citizens — in a surprise terror attack Oct. 7.
Columbia students told reporters before the House hearing that they have been targeted for wearing Star of David necklaces and have heard shouts of “F–k the Jews” in the kosher section of campus dining halls.
That same day, demonstrators descended onto the campus and set up dozens of tents in a show of force meant to convince Columbia to divest from Israel.
Many participants have defended Hamas’ actions and called for the eradication of the Jewish state, with one holding up a sign on Saturday night that called for the Al-Qassam military brigade of the terror group to pick Israeli flag-waving Columbia students as their “next targets.”
Follow The Post’s coverage of the anti-Israel protests at Columbia University:
Columbia cancels in-person classes to ‘reset’ as anti-Israel protests raise tensions
Columbia Jewish alumni demand firing of president Shafik for failing to protect students on campus
NYPD officers arrested more than 100 participants in the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on Thursday at Shafik’s prompting, but the Republican lawmakers say the “illegal, antisemitic” demonstration had been permitted for two days beforehand — and has since been “shockingly allowed to reconvene” without police intervention.
In a Monday statement, Shafik pleaded with the undergrads to go home, saying Columbia had to “reset” and “address security concerns” from students “across an array of communities.”
“I am deeply saddened by what is happening on our campus. Our bonds as a community have been severely tested in ways that will take a great deal of time and effort to reaffirm,” Shafik also said.
D’Esposito, Lawler and four House Democrats visited the campus on Monday. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) said that Shafik had made some “good steps forward” but members of Congress would “be watching every single day” to see whether she enforces all university policies that protect Jewish students and faculty.
“Are they going to take the right action? Are they going to clear the campus? Are they going to let Jewish students and professors go to class and teach?” Gottheimer said, as he stood shoulder to shoulder with Reps. Dan Goldman (D-NY), Kathy Manning (D-NC) and Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.). “That’s the test.”
Goldman defended Shafik and said she was “working towards resolving this problem” but that it was a “systemic” issue.
“We have seen encouraging statements, we’ve seen encouraging actions and we have been in communication,” he added. “Both elected representatives and members of the administrations of academic institutions [need] to combat … this dramatic rise of antisemitism and a feeling of insecurity from Jews on campus.”
Two congressional Democrats signaled their support on Sunday for ousting Shafik if she doesn’t change course.
Pro-Israel Sen. John Fetterman posted on X that he was in full agreement with the White House that Columbia’s protests were “antisemitic, unconscionable and dangerous.”
“Add some tiki torches and it’s Charlottesville for these Jewish students,” Fetterman (D-Pa.) added in reference to a 2017 white supremacist rally at the University of Virginia, before telling Shafik directly: “Do your job or resign so Columbia can find someone who will.”
“If the President of Columbia University cannot lead with moral clarity, then she should step aside for a true leader who can and will,” Bronx Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres also said.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who is Jewish, told The Post Columbia’s president was “waving the white flag” by opting to hold Monday classes remotely — which Blakeman called an admission Jewish students can’t be protected.
“This is outrageous. Shafik is not even adhering to Columbia’s own code of conduct. She has failed to protect the Jewish students’ right to go to class safely,” said Blakeman, a Republican, adding that “she should resign if she can’t control campus.”
“It’s a waving of the white flag. She has lost any courage. She has lost her moral compass,” he added. “Right now I’d be concerned about sending any student — letting alone a Jewish student — to Columbia.
“They have allowed the rise in antisemitism to fester. The professors are overwhelmingly liberal, woke and anti-American.”
Stefanik and the other GOP lawmakers also said Shafik’s congressional testimony had been “hollow” — pointing to conflicting statements about holding professors accused of antisemitism accountable.
Shafik testified last week that Joseph Massad, a modern Arab politics professor, was “under investigation” and would lose his post on an academic committee for his “unacceptable” conduct — including referring to the Oct. 7 massacre as “awesome.”
“President Shafik indicated that I am currently ‘under investigation’ for making discriminatory comments. This is news to me, as I have not been informed or contacted by anyone from the university to inform me of this alleged investigation,” Massad later told the far-left outlet Electronic Intifada.
“In fact, I had a meeting last week with the Columbia University Provost, Angela Olinto, about being subjected to harassment and racism by another university professor,” Massad added. “Provost Olinto conveyed to me her support and that she was sorry that I had been subjected to such harassment. The offending professor is the one currently being investigated.
“I remain the chair of the Academic Review Committee, a one-year position, for the next few weeks, which is the normal end of my chairmanship.”
The GOP letter to Shafik accused her of a “cover-up” over “the lack of punishment for pro-terror Professor Joseph Massad.”
“The words in your testimony ring hollow,” it said, “and you have clearly failed to live up to any commitment of enforcement.”
