Just a few weeks before the start of the autumn semester, Ms. Shafik resigned from her role at the prestigious Ivy League university in New York City, barely a year after she started there.
With her handling of rallies against the Gaza conflict, Ms. Shafik has become the third president of an Ivy League university to step down.
Ms. Shafik controversially gave the go-ahead for NYPD officers to swarm the campus in April, which resulted in the arrest of over 100 students who were occupying a university facility.
This incident was the first occasion that large numbers of people had been arrested.
The action sparked additional demonstrations at numerous universities in the US and Canada.
Ms. Shafik stated that she has been in charge of a “period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community” in an email sent on Wednesday to faculty and students.
“This period has taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has for others in our community.”
The interim president will be Katrina Armstrong, the chief executive officer of the Irving Medical Center at Columbia University.
