In a Washington war room, Columbia’s president, Nemat Shafik, decided to call police officers to arrest protesting students. The backlash now threat

Inside the Week That Shook Columbia University

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2024-04-24 13:30:09

In a Washington war room, Columbia’s president, Nemat Shafik, decided to call police officers to arrest protesting students. The backlash now threatens her leadership.

After the police cleared tents on Thursday, students rebuilt the encampment and made it bigger. Credit... C.S. Muncy for The New York Times

Just after 2 p.m. last Wednesday, Nemat Shafik, the president of Columbia University, stepped out of an office building on Capitol Hill and into an idling black SUV.

She had just endured an intense grilling by a congressional committee investigating antisemitism on elite college campuses. Now, a fresh challenge was rapidly building back on her own turf, where pro-Palestinian student demonstrators had staked out an encampment dominating Columbia’s lawn.

For a university trying to reassure Congress that it was getting its campus under control, the timing could scarcely have been worse. With a narrow window to act, Dr. Shafik directed her car to a law firm near the White House, where she set up a makeshift command center.