New Columbia University president dismissed House antisemitism hearing as ‘nonsense’

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Columbia University’s new acting president dismissed the congressional hearings on campus antisemitism as “nonsense” in a 2023 text message.

Claire Shipman, co-chair of the university’s board of trustees, was appointed as the acting university president on Friday.

Shipman derided congressional oversight efforts on antisemitism as “capital [sic] hill nonsense” in a text message to Columbia’s then-President Minouche Shafik while referring to a New York Times article that claimed the university navigated tensions over the Israel-Hamas war more skillfully than other universities. 

“[M]ost critically I think it heavily inoculates us for a while from the capital [sic] hill nonsense and threat,” Shipman wrote in the message, which was revealed in a 325-page report from the Republican House Committee on Education and the Workforce in October.

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Claire Shipman, co-chair of Columbia University’s Board of Trustees, testifies during the House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing titled “Columbia in Crisis: Columbia University’s Response to Antisemitism” on Wednesday, April 17, 2024.  (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Shipman wrote in another message that she was seeking to “unsuspend the groups” who the report said had violated university rules while engaging in antisemitic and pro-Hamas conduct.

Shipman testified before Congress in April 2024 during the hearings on campus antisemitism. In her statement at the time, she called antisemitism “dangerous and reprehensible” and said that it “has no place at Columbia, or in our society.”

A University spokesperson told Fox News Digital in an emailed statement that the university is concentrating on creating a safe environment for students.

“We are focused on doing what is right and honoring our commitments to create a Columbia community where students are safe and able to flourish,” the spokesperson said. “This will secure Columbia’s future.”

Columbia was at the heart of 2024’s anti-Israel campus protests, with NYPD officers ultimately breaking up a barricade at Hamilton Hall in a highly publicized raid.

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Shipman, who has been on the Columbia University board since 2013, is replacing interim school president Katrina Armstrong until the board completes its presidential search. 

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Armstrong stepped in after Shafik resigned in August amid claims of institutional antisemitism. Armstrong later stepped down amidst a clash with the Trump administration over $400 million in federal funding. 

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Shipman previously worked as a CNN White House reporter, a White House correspondent for NBC News and a senior national correspondent for ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

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Shipman was married to Jay Carney, who served as the White House press secretary under former President Barack Obama.

Fox News’ Jasmine Baehr, Alexis McAdams, Louis Casiano, Alexis McAdams and Yael Halon contributed to this report.