2024-04-24 11:56:22
The name of the president of Columbia University, Nemat “Minouche” Shafiq, has emerged during the past few days against the backdrop of the pro-Palestinian protests taking place at the university.
Shafiq was subjected to pressure from all parties supporting or opposing those protests, with some faculty members criticizing her decision to call the New York Police last week to disperse the protests, while others demanded that she call on the police to return to evacuate a camp of demonstrators.
During her speech during a US House of Representatives hearing on anti-Semitism on campus last week, the president of Columbia University said that “there is more work to be done to combat anti-Semitism and support academic freedom.”
“Trying to reconcile the free speech rights of those who want to protest with the rights of Jewish students to be in an environment free of harassment or discrimination has been a major challenge on our campus, and many other campuses, in recent months,” she added.
Shafik continued that she believes the university is able to “confront anti-Semitism and provide a safe campus environment for our community while simultaneously supporting religious academic exploration and freedom.”
Egyptian-born academic and political economic expert Nemat Shafik has assumed the presidency of Columbia University since July 2023, and her predecessor, Lee Bollinger, held the position for the longest period, according to the university.
Shafik’s family fled Egypt in the 1960s, when the country was in the midst of political and economic turmoil, and grew up in the American South, according to the university.
Shafik graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a bachelor’s degree in economics and politics, and received a master’s degree in economics from the London School of Economics, and a doctorate in economics from the University of Oxford.
Shafik was the youngest ever vice-president of the World Bank, at the age of 36. She held prominent positions at the UK Department for International Development, the International Monetary Fund, and the Bank of England. She returned to academia in 2017 as president of the London School of Economics.
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2024-04-24 11:56:22