Columbia's interim president stepping down days after agreeing to Trump administration demands
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- Columbia has announced that Interim President Katrina Armstrong is stepping down just days after the university agreed to meet the Trump administration's demands to restore $400 million in federal funding to the school.
Columbia's Board of Trustees says Armstrong will return to the university's Irving Medical Center.
"Katrina has always given her heart and soul to Columbia. We appreciate her service and look forward to her continued contributions to the University," said David J. Greenwald, Chair of the Board of Trustees.
Board of Trustees Co-Chair Claire Shipman has been appointed acting president, "effective immediately, and will serve until the Board completes its presidential search," the board said in a statement.
"I assume this role with a clear understanding of the serious challenges before us and a steadfast commitment to act with urgency, integrity, and work with our faculty to advance our mission, implement needed reforms, protect our students, and uphold academic freedom and open inquiry," Shipman said.
She has served as co-chair since 2023, has been on the board since 2013.
Shipman, both a journalist and author, spent 15 years as a reporter at ABC News, covering politics, international affairs and social issues. She has received numerous awards for her reporting, including a Peabody, a DuPont, and an Emmy.
Shipman has a graduate degree in international affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts in Russian Studies from Columbia College.
The change in leadership comes a week after the university agreed to the Trump administration's demands, which include Columbia implementing a mask ban for protests, giving campus officers the power to make arrests and adopting a formal definition of antisemitism.
Columbia agreed to the changes after President Donald Trump withheld hundreds of millions of dollars of federal funding.
The White House withheld the money because it said Columbia failed to protect Jewish students on campus during last year's anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protests.
A Columbia University spokesperson released a statement earlier this week, saying in part, "The actions and ongoing work that Columbia has committed to undertake will make our university a better, stronger place free of all forms of discrimination," and added, "We appreciate the ongoing dialogue with our regulators, and their willingness to engage with Columbia constructively and with the university's future in mind."
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