We, the undersigned, call on the Columbia University Board of Trustees to immediately terminate Claire Shipman from her role as Acting President. Shipman was appointed to help restore order, uphold institutional values, and foster a safe, inclusive environment for all students. Instead, she has aligned herself—both publicly and through inaction—with individuals and groups that espouse anti-American, anti-Israel, and antisemitic views.

Under her leadership, Jewish students have continued to feel unsafe, unwelcome, and marginalized. Her failure to condemn clear acts of antisemitism, along with her apparent empathy toward individuals who sympathize with terrorism—even expressed during commencement ceremonies—renders her no different, and no more effective, than her failed predecessors. The university community deserves better.

Specific examples illustrate this alarming trend. During the 2025 commencement ceremony, Shipman publicly acknowledged and expressed sympathy for Mahmoud Khalil, a former student reportedly tied to Hamas and detained by federal authorities. Her remarks—stating that the Columbia community was "mourning his absence"—sparked outrage and drew boos from the audience. Meanwhile, Jewish students have been the repeated targets of intimidation and harassment on campus, with antisemitic chants, vandalism, and protests going largely unaddressed by university leadership. Columbia has already lost the confidence of major donors, including Leon Cooperman and Robert Kraft, due to this ongoing failure to protect Jewish students and uphold basic standards of decency.

Even more gravely, Columbia has lost the confidence of the United States government, as evidenced by the recent revocation of $400 million in federal funding. This extraordinary action reflects not only the severity of the university’s failures, but the growing recognition that Columbia is no longer fulfilling its obligations as a federally funded institution to protect students from discrimination and hate. That level of institutional collapse is unacceptable—and it demands immediate and decisive leadership change.

Shipman has failed to fulfill the responsibilities of her position and should be replaced immediately with someone committed to ensuring the safety, dignity, and equal treatment of all students, regardless of religion or national identity.

What is at stake if Claire Shipman remains in power is far more than Columbia University’s moral integrity or global reputation—it is the fabric of civil society itself. While Columbia’s smug disregard for its institutional credibility is troubling, the deeper concern is what this signals about the direction of our culture and values. When one of the world’s most influential academic institutions tolerates and even sympathizes with expressions of antisemitism and support for terrorism, it accelerates the erosion of the moral boundaries that hold democratic societies together.

This is not just a Columbia problem—it is a societal crisis. If we fail to draw clear lines between free expression and hate, between dissent and the glorification of violence, we risk normalizing extremism, desensitizing a generation to the dangers of bigotry, and ultimately legitimizing ideologies that threaten liberty, human rights, and peace. The passive allowance of such decay at elite institutions is not just negligence—it is complicity in the unraveling of our shared civic and ethical foundations.

Claire Shipman's continued leadership represents a failure to stand for decency at a critical moment. Columbia must act decisively—not just to salvage its own standing, but to demonstrate that truth, justice, and human dignity still matter in higher education and beyond. To remain silent or inactive is to contribute to the decay of values that once defined the best of this country and its institutions.

We therefore demand her immediate termination, and the appointment of a leader who will defend the rights and safety of all students, restore accountability, and uphold the principles upon which Columbia—and a free society—must stand.