Columbia University's Faculty Senate, fearing the repercussions of a resolution of censure against President Nemat Shafik, instead expressed displeasure over a series of her decisions, including summoning police to arrest student protesters last week. The plan is to vote on a watered down resolution. campus.
Senators were concerned that a censure vote during the crisis could lead to Dr. Shafiq's removal. Some also feared such a vote would be seen as bowing to Republican lawmakers who had called for her resignation, according to interviews with several senators who attended Wednesday's closed session. private meeting.
The Senate is scheduled to meet again on Friday to vote on the resolution.
Senator Carol Garber was among those who questioned the recognition of the censure vote, which would create enormous political pressure to remove Dr. Shafiq.
“This is definitely not a precedent any university wants to set,” said Dr. Gerber, a professor of behavioral sciences. “We shouldn't be bullied by anyone in Congress.”
The plan to distance itself from harshly worded censure resolutions was announced in the wake of Dr. Shafiq's announcement at a meeting of the University's Senate, an official body of more than 100 faculty, students, administrators and staff. The university did not respond to requests for comment.
Dr. Garber, emerging from the meeting, said some faculty members were “upset and hurt” by Dr. Shafik's performance at a Congressional hearing on anti-Semitism on campus, in which Dr. He appeared to have given in to the demands. Dr. Shafiq told the House of Representatives that university leaders had warned that some protesters were using anti-Semitic language and that certain disputed phrases, such as “from the river to the sea,” should be disciplined. He said he agreed it could be worth it.
At the faculty meeting, senators in attendance described a polite but pointed exchange, with some outraged by Dr. Shafik's decision to call the New York City Police Department to break up an encampment protesting the war in Gaza.
Some expressed concern about the impact on the more than 100 students, some nearing graduation, who have been arrested or suspended after attending the camp.
During the meeting, Dr. Shafiq defended his decision to call the police, citing hygiene concerns as well as concerns about the dangers posed by the makeshift cooking utensils.
“Hundreds of people were camping out in dangerous conditions,” Dr. Shafiq told the group.
But one senator who took notes during the meeting said she had not been invited and acknowledged that she had not visited the encampment.
In response, another senator asked visiting members to raise their hands. At least half of the groups raised their hands.
Although somewhat guilty, Dr. Shafiq admitted that a new protest camp was soon set up on another section of the lawn and that the police action was ineffective.
She also described a change in tactics, with the university now using negotiation rather than force to clear the central lawn of campus where students are camping.
One of her priorities, she said, is to clear out the camp in time for Columbia University's undergraduate ceremony, scheduled for May 15 on the lawn.
When calling the police, the administration ignored the wishes of the 13-member Senate Executive Committee, which unanimously rejected the idea in an emergency meeting. The day before the police arrived, they informed Dr. Shafiq's office that she did not have the support of the police and advised them to negotiate.
Dr. Shafiq's decision to press ahead with the police summons against the wishes of the committee is a clear violation of university regulations, and the campus chapter of the American Association of University Professors, a liberal faculty group, has issued A resolution was drafted to censure her. Senate.
The resolution references the on-campus arrests, which Dr. Shafiq surrendered to Republican lawmakers in Congressional testimony the day before, and the protocol by discussing an on-campus investigation into certain professors accused of anti-Semitism. I'm blaming you for breaking it.
But Sheldon Pollock, a member of Columbia University's AAUP executive committee, said Wednesday's campus visit by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson was unique in the history of attempted outside interference.
“My sense is that faculty are in a very difficult situation,” said Dr. Pollock, a former professor who is not a senator. “We do not want politicians to interfere with Columbia University's shared governance procedures. At the same time, we are deeply disturbed by the actions the President took last week.”
Wednesday's emergency Senate meeting was an attempt to defuse tensions ahead of a vote on the proposal.
Dr. Shafiq said he was concerned about restoring trust between the administration and faculty, arguing that trust had been undermined even before his appointment.
Dr. Shafiq, who was president of the London School of Economics, arrived in Columbia last July. “We've been in crisis mode ever since,” she told the Colombian Senate, beginning with the scandal surrounding former Columbia doctor Dr. Robert A. Hadden, who was convicted of sexually assaulting patients, and now with the Gaza war. Ta.
She described herself as a strong defender of free speech and academic freedom, and said she was concerned that free speech has translated into harassment in some cases.
“These incidents happen on campus, and I've seen them happen. We need to solve them together,” she told the group.
A day after the meeting, Columbia University senators were busy drafting a resolution that will be voted on Friday at the Senate's final meeting of the year.
While expressing disapproval of Dr. Shafiq's actions, he will not condemn them completely.