Nimet Minoushe Shafik was born in Egypt and immigrated to the USA with her family. She then moved to the UK to study. On the one hand, Shafik is facing an investigation by the US House of Representatives into pro-Hamas Movement professors, and on the other hand, she has drawn angry reactions from students for asking the police to help her disperse a student sit-in protesting the war in Gaza.
When Nimat Minoushe Shafik was appointed president of Columbia University in New York last year, the chairman of the university’s board of trustees described her as an ‘ideal candidate’ who understood ‘academia and the outside world’. But the British-American baroness of Egyptian descent soon found herself facing accusations from opposing sides over the Gaza war. Having previously worked in some of the world’s largest financial institutions, Shafik has dealt with complex issues, facing accusations from the left that he violated academic freedom and accusations from the right that he failed to deal with anti-Semitism on campus after he allowed police to intervene in a student sit-in demanding a break in economic and academic ties with Israel.
Testified in the US House of Representatives
During a hearing last week at the US House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce, Shafik faced questions about his approach to the incidents of ‘hate and anti-Semitism’ on campus following the October 7, 2023 attacks.
According to US media reports, a special investigation has been launched into how the university treats faculty members who make pro-Hamas Movement comments that are characterized as ‘anti-Semitic’ (anti-Semitic). During his testimony, Shafik was also asked by Republican Congressman Tim Wahlberg of Michigan about Joseph Massad, a professor in the university’s Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies, who made comments describing the Hamas movement’s attack on Israel last October as a “stunning victory.
To Wahlberg’s question, Şefik said, “I condemn his statement. I am appalled by what he said. He has been spoken to.” When another Republican Representative, Elise Stefanik, asked Chefik why Massad was still listed as the ‘Chair of the Academic Review Committee’ on the official website of Colombia University, the session erupted. Stefanik asked Shafik to promise to remove Massad from his position. During the session, Shafik was asked about an October 1 Facebook post by Mohammed Abduh, a visiting professor at the university’s Middle East Institute, in which he said, “Yes, I am in favor of resistance, whether it is Hamas, Hezbollah or the Islamic Jihad Movement, but only to a certain extent.” In response, Shafiq said he would expel Abduh from the university.
Some of the university’s Jewish students have previously reported verbal and physical harassment on campus and incidents of anti-Semitism off campus. Some of the university’s major donors, Republican representatives and some members of the Democratic Party have commented that such incidents show that Shafik is incapable of dealing with anti-Semitism. Robert Kraft, a major donor to the university, said, “I no longer have confidence in Columbia University’s ability to protect its students and staff. I have reservations about supporting the university until measures are taken to remedy this situation. I hope the university and its administration will immediately end these protests and combat this hatred.”
Police violence
On the other hand, Shafik’s decision to allow the NYPD to intervene in the protest movement against the war in Gaza by setting up a ‘Gaza solidarity camp’ with tents on campus, in flagrant violation of the university’s policy on peaceful demonstrations, sparked an angry reaction from students, faculty and leftist politicians. More than 100 people were detained as a result of the police intervention. In response, more students joined the protest and it soon spread to many university campuses across the US.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a member of the House of Representatives from the Democratic Party, said in a statement on her X platform on Tuesday, “The police’s dispersal of peaceful protests organized by students on campus is an escalating, reckless and dangerous step. This is nothing less than a failure of a terrible administration that puts people’s lives at risk. I condemn this in the strongest possible terms.”
Demands for Şefik’s resignation
Mike Johnson, the Republican Speaker of the US House of Representatives, called for Shafik’s resignation during a press conference at Columbia University on Wednesday. “I am here today to stand with my friends and call on Rector Shafik to resign if he cannot immediately bring order to this chaos,” Johnson said.
Colombia University’s Board of Trustees, however, stood behind Shafik, declaring its strong support for him as he leads the university through these difficult times. “During the rectorial elections, Rector Shafik told us that he would always take a thoughtful approach to resolving conflicts and balancing the diverse voices that make up a vibrant campus like Colombia University, while taking a firm stand against hate, harassment and discrimination,” CNN quoted the University’s Board of Trustees as saying in a written statement. And that is exactly what he is doing now,” the statement said.
In a written statement to the House of Representatives before leaving to testify, Mr. Shafiq described his childhood in Egypt and later in the southeastern United States during a period of systematic racial segregation in schools, saying that these experiences gave him the opportunity to “engage with and learn from people of diverse backgrounds and first-hand experiences of overcoming discrimination.
Shafik is not the only university rector in this situation. Liz Magill, the Rector of the University of Pennsylvania, and Claudine Gay, the Rector of Harvard University, both came under pressure for their handling of what they described as ‘anti-Semitic’ protests on campus after the events of October 7, 2023. Both resigned as a result of this pressure. Observers believe that what happened at Columbia University and other universities in the US reflects the complexities of running universities in this era and their impact. They also reflect the experience of a growing number of university presidents like Shafik who come from non-academic backgrounds.
It’s not just about creating a safe environment on campus while balancing the principles of free speech and academic freedom. Katherine S. Cho, an assistant professor of higher education at Loyola University in Chicago, told Time magazine in the US that she, like other university presidents these days, is tasked with balancing faculty, trustees and administration. “These three groups often have different ideas about what is happening at the university and whether the president is doing a good job,” Cho said, adding, “They may have different definitions of what they think the president is accomplishing.
Pragmatic
When Shafik took over as president of Columbia University last year, she became the university’s first female president and one of the few newly appointed female presidents of an Ivy League school (the Ivy League is an association of eight private universities in the New England region and south of the United States).
Born in Egypt but immigrated to the US with his family when he was four years old, Shafik spent his childhood years there and then moved to the UK for his graduate studies, where he had a long career journey.
After earning a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and a PhD from Oxford University, Shafik became the youngest-ever vice president of the World Bank at the age of 36. After working at the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Bank of England, he became head of the London School of Economics.
During his time in the UK, Shafik’s talents impressed and he gained a reputation in his field, but he had no clear political leanings. He served as DFID Secretary-General under both Conservative and Labour governments and was a permanent member of the House of Lords. In an interview with the Financial Times in 2021, Shafik was described as pragmatic and non-political. Speaking about her identity as a young Egyptian girl growing up in the United States, Shafik said that in school she was asked whether she was black or white and she answered ‘I am brown’.
While Shafik’s salary of £539,000 for his position at the London School of Economics in 2022 has sparked controversy in the country, the London School of Economics has failed to increase the salaries of its lecturers. Some have pointed out that this amount is still far below the salaries paid for similar positions at universities in the US.
Translated from Independent Arabia.
