據美國多家新聞報道，哥倫比亞大學校長米努什·沙菲克（Minouche Shafik）周三宣布立即辭職。
她是第三位在以色列-哈馬斯戰爭影響下下臺的常青藤盟校校長。哈佛大學校長克勞丁·蓋伊（Claudine Gay）和賓夕法尼亞大學校長利茲·馬吉爾（Liz Magill）此前因校園抗議活動后宣布辭職。
左：克勞丁·蓋伊 右：利茲·馬吉爾
米努什·沙菲克的辭職信
Dear members of the Columbia community,
I write with sadness to tell you that I am stepping down as president of Columbia University effective August 14, 2024. I have had the honor and privilege to lead this incredible institution, and I believe that—working together—we have made progress in a number of important areas. However, it has also been a period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community. This period has taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has for others in our community. Over the summer, I have been able to reflect and have decided that my moving on at this point would best enable Columbia to traverse the challenges ahead. I am making this announcement now so that new leadership can be in place before the new term begins.
My whole professional life has been devoted to public service and my time at Columbia has been an important part of that commitment. In terms of next steps, I am honored to have been asked by the UK’s Foreign Secretary to chair a review of the government’s approach to international development and how to improve capability. I am very pleased and appreciative that this will afford me the opportunity to return to work on fighting global poverty and promoting sustainable development, areas of lifelong interest to me. It also enables me to return to the House of Lords to reengage with the important legislative agenda put forth by the new UK government.
I have informed the Board of Trustees, and I would like to express my immense appreciation to them for their support. I am committed to working with the Interim President to ensure an orderly transition. I also want to pay tribute to the deans, the University Leadership Team, and the staff of the President’s Office with whom I have worked so closely this last year; they have and will continue to do an extraordinary job for our students, faculty, researchers, staff, and community.
During my inauguration, I spoke of Columbia as an exemplar of a great 21st century university committed to educating leaders and citizens, generating knowledge and ideas to solve problems, and engaging at the local and global level to deliver real impact in improving people’s lives. As president, I have been proud to witness Columbia making so many contributions to delivering that vital mission. I also spoke about the values and principles which are dear to me and, I know, to the Columbia community as well: academic freedom and free speech; openness to ideas; and zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind—including gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, or ethnicity. This mission, and the values and principles underpinning it, constitute our North Star. Even as tension, division, and politicization have disrupted our campus over the last year, our core mission and values endure and will continue to guide us in meeting the challenges ahead.
I have tried to navigate a path that upholds academic principles and treats everyone with fairness and compassion. It has been distressing—for the community, for me as president and on a personal level—to find myself, colleagues, and students the subject of threats and abuse. As President Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand”—we must do all we can to resist the forces of polarization in our community. I remain optimistic that differences can be overcome through the honest exchange of views, truly listening, and—always—by treating each other with dignity and respect. Again, Columbia’s core mission to create and acquire knowledge, with our values as foundation, will lead us there.
That is what we owe each other.
I want to conclude by thanking the entire Columbia community for their support and understanding. This is truly one of the world’s great institutions with a proud history and legacy of achievement. Having come to know and work with the amazing people here—passionate, intelligent, committed—I have no doubt that Columbia’s future will be even more illustrious.
My profound thanks for the privilege of serving you.
Sincerely,
Minouche Shafik
從任職到離職，短短的充滿動蕩的13個月，沙菲克主要做了什么事呢？因為什么原因離職呢？
2023年沙菲克任哥大校長
2023年1月18日，哥倫比亞大學官網宣布，米努什·沙菲克（Minouche Shafik）將擔任哥大下任校長——成為該校269年歷史上首位女校長，也是當前常春藤八所盟校中的第6位女校長。米努切·沙菲克（Minouche Shafik）將于2023年7月1日正式就任。
她曾是倫敦政治經濟學院（London School of Economics）的負責人，在此之前，她曾在世界銀行工作，并一路晉升，成為該銀行有史以來最年輕的副行長。沙菲克還曾在英國國際開發部工作，隨后在國際貨幣基金組織和英格蘭銀行工作。
在沙菲克被任命時，哥倫比亞大學董事會主席喬納森·拉文（Jonathan Lavine）將她描述為一位深刻理解“學院及其以外的世界”的領導者。
拉文在一份聲明中說：“米努什作為候選人的與眾不同之處在于，她對高等教育機構在解決世界上最復雜的問題方面能夠而且必須發揮的重要作用有著不可動搖的信心。
校園抗議活動是沙菲克辭職的主要原因
沙菲克在信中寫到，這也是一個動蕩的時期，我們很難克服整個社區的不同觀點，并說明校園抗議活動是其辭職的主要原因。
2024年4月至6月，在美國廣泛的以色列-哈馬斯戰爭相關抗議活動的背景下，紐約市哥倫比亞大學發生了一系列親巴勒斯坦學生的占領抗議活動。親巴勒斯坦學生在哥倫比亞大學校園內建立了加沙團結營地，要求大學從與以色列有財務聯系的公司撤資。
不久后，哥倫比亞大學校長沙菲克在華盛頓特區舉行的眾議院教育和勞動力委員會關于大學校園反猶太主義的聽證會上作證。
18日，沙菲克因授權紐約市警察局進入校園，導致100多名學生被捕和營地拆除而受到兩方人士的抨擊。
一方面，她被指控在保護猶太學生免受歧視和騷擾方面做得不夠，批評人士說，當她4月份出現在眾議院教育委員會面前回答諸如某些口號是否會被視為反猶太主義等問題時，人們感到困惑。
另一方面，其他人則認為，當她打電話給警察清理他們的營地和占領一棟建筑物時，她對親巴勒斯坦學生的打擊太大了。
盡管營地被拆除，抗議者很快在校園內重建了營地，并持續進行抗議活動。4月30日，數十名學生占領了漢密爾頓大廳，抗議隨之升級。
沙菲克再次授權紐約警察局第二次清掃校園。警方逮捕了300多名抗議者，并投擲煙霧彈，這引起了教職員工的譴責，數百名教職員工走出課堂，抗議大學對抗議活動的回應，并導致課程取消和轉向混合學習模式。
在經歷了一系列的抗議活動、逮捕、教職員工的反對和校園內外的緊張局勢后，沙菲克于8月14日宣布辭去校長職務。
哥倫比亞大學感謝沙菲克
在任職期間所做的貢獻
哥倫比亞大學董事會在給大學社區的一封電子郵件中表示，它“遺憾地接受了沙菲克辭去大學校長職務的決定。沙菲克在一個非常具有挑戰性的時期為哥倫比亞社區做出了如此多的貢獻，并且是一位出色的同事和朋友。雖然我們對她離開我們感到失望，但我們理解并尊重她的決定。”
在這一艱難的一年里，沙菲克為大學取得了一系列重大成就，包括一套關于學術卓越、運營效率和社區設計的戰略舉措，旨在幫助學校蓬勃發展。同時，她為哥倫比亞大學招募了優秀人才:新教務長、新首席運營官、法學院和藝術學院院長以及數據科學研究所主任。
沙菲克還任命了該校有史以來的第一位首席氣候官，將可持續性和氣候行動的承諾嵌入到哥倫比亞大學工作的方方面面。哥倫比亞大學對她所做的一切充滿感謝。
至于對留學生來說，校長的離任并不會對我們的學習生活造成任何影響，同學們可以照常申請。
作為美國最古老的五所大學之一，八所常春藤盟校之一。哥倫比亞大學的含金量非常高，無論是學術水平、專業設置、還是校園環境和基礎設施，都體現了其在全球教育領域的重要地位和影響力。
像哥大這樣的TOP名校，它的準入門檻越來越高，如何在眾多申請中脫穎而出？要在激烈的申請競爭中獲得優勢，關鍵在于強化和提升個人背景。
這通常意味著要在學術成績上力求卓越，獲取優秀的GPA和標準化考試成績。同時，積累與所申請領域相關的學術經驗，如高含金量的國際競賽。
翰林各科國際賽事課程/組隊
正在火熱招募中
* 以上賽事主辦方為海外機構，不與任何中國的大學、中學或小學升學加分活動掛鉤，其成績不會作為任何中國中小學升學或評優的依據，僅定位為針對中學生的課外興趣活動和國際教學交流活動。
了解更多賽事信息，可掃描下方二維碼，
添加顧問老師咨詢！
我要咨詢/報名
本期福利
20本準留學必備書單
掃碼領取！
