Columbia University President Minouche Shafik is leaving. What went wrong?

Last spring, as protests over the war in Gaza enraged the university community and spread to campuses across the country and Europe, Columbia University President Minouche Shafik decided to resign.

“This time has been very difficult for my family and the rest of the community,” Shafiq said in a letter announcing his resignation Wednesday. “Over the summer, I have reflected and have decided that at this moment, moving forward will better position Columbia to meet the challenges ahead.”

Shafik has been under pressure to resign for months. She has been criticized for her handling of the demonstrations by both those who supported and opposed the spring protests, and by some right-wing politicians who claim the president did not do enough to protect Jewish students. House Speaker Mike Johnson called her resignation “aIt should have been” Wednesday.

Not all of the spring protests—mostly student demands that schools Divestment The ongoing war between Israel and the Gaza Strip has caused losses to companies with ties to Israel—to the same extent as Columbia University. Successfully negotiated with protesters Voluntary dismantling of pro-Palestinian camps without police intervention.

However, in Colombia, Shafiq quickly Called the police The decision sparked protests, more escalatory tactics and led to widespread outrage as protesters camped out on the university’s main lawn in a show of force. Faculty no-confidence vote Under her leadership, some protesters eventually Take over campus buildings They were then forcibly taken away and arrested by the police.

Now, Shafik is one of several presidents of Ivy League schools. Left Their Role Amid campus unrest. The question is what will happen not just to Columbia University (currently led by interim president Katrina Armstrong, CEO of Columbia University Irving Medical Center) but to all universities as students return to campus this fall. With the war in Gaza raging, demonstrations are expected to resume. More than 40,000 Palestinians killed,continue A new round of ceasefire talks has begun. It is incumbent on administrators to find a way to avoid a repeat of the spring events.

“I think tensions are going to rise, more than I think they are right now,” Nico Perinoexecutive vice president of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a nonpartisan group that advocates for free speech. “Hopefully, policies will be in place and we are talking to students and faculty about how to respond to situations where there are encampments or students are threatened or denied access to different parts of campus.”

Ahead of what is expected to be a contentious semester, other university administrators can learn two important lessons from Shafiq’s missteps:

This spring, protests escalated to the point where the university could no longer continue normal operations.

Held in Colombia Virtual Classroom In the final weeks of the spring semester, UCLA also Cancellation of Courses After pro-Palestinian protesters were attacked by masked agitators and campus police failed to intervene for three hours. Cancelled graduation speeches Pro-Palestinian graduating students objected due to security concerns.

Colleges should plan now on how to prevent this from happening again. If protests escalate this fall to the point where campus public safety or police are needed, “things have already gotten really bad,” he said. Frederick Lawrenceformer president of Brandeis University and lecturer at Georgetown University Law School.

The most important step schools can take now is to establish clear ground rules for protests that will be enforced neutrally — regardless of who is participating or what their reasons are — such as prohibiting the occupation of buildings or preventing students from attending classes.

Lawrence said before the fall semester begins, university administrators and protesters should develop a restart plan that starts with communication.

“This is a great time to engage with student leaders across the spectrum and listen to what they have to say, but also try to engage them and try to find constructive ways to demonstrate and express their views, but do it in a way that is constructive for them and for the university,” Lawrence said.

University administrators have a dual responsibility to uphold free speech and keep their communities safe. If they are not seen as neutral mediators, their ability to fulfill these responsibilities will be compromised.

Some university administrators learned this lesson the hard way earlier this year when their statements about the war in Gaza were widely publicized in the media and Well-known congressional hearings —Like some of the Stanford student protesters Occupied the office of their university president.

This spring, some universities did decide that they should not take positions on issues at the institutional level. Harvard, for example, announced that it would No more comments The policy change comes after former Harvard University President Claudine Gay was accused of Severely criticized Thanks for her first statement on the war. Troubled Guy Resign After later facing a plagiarism scandal.

Perino sees Harvard’s approach as a positive development.

“This will hopefully alleviate some of the concerns that these universities have about messaging,” he said. “Universities are the hosts and supporters of critics. They are not critics themselves, but by being critics, they influence the direction of the campus debate.”

Rather than making blanket statements, educators can play a more nuanced role by discouraging certain types of speech, even if they are permitted by university rules. For example, Yale University President Peter Salovey statement In the spring, he said: “Slogans or messages that express hatred, celebrate the killing of civilians or call for genocide against any group are completely contrary to our ideals and certainly not characteristic of our wider community.”

The warnings could have the effect of lowering temperatures.

“A lot of things that are said in the heat of the moment are not helpful, and it’s helpful for administrators to lighten the mood and say, ‘Can you convey this in a way that’s not deeply offensive to your classmates,’ ” Lawrence said.