Amid battle with Trump, Columbia University President steps down

Katrina Armstrong has stepped down as interim president of Columbia University amid a battle with the Trump administration over the school’s federal funding. She will return to the school’s Irving Medical Center, the university announced in a statement Friday.

In a statement, Armstrong said her return to the medical center was planned, and said she was proud to have worked with the institution, which she called a “special place.” This means that her tenure only lasted 8 months.

“It has been a singular honor to lead Columbia University in this important and challenging time,” Armstrong said. “But my heart is with science, and my passion is with healing. That is where I can best serve this University and our community moving forward.”

The school last week agreed to a list of demands by the Trump administration to start negotiations to restore $400 million in federal funding. The funding was pulled earlier this month after the administration accused the New York school of “inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.”

The person who knows Armstrong said Armstrong felt she had been handed an impossible situation regarding the funding, and that Armstrong believed she did what she had to do to save the university.

The chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Republican Rep. Tim Walberg of Michigan, noted that Republicans will still be watching how Columbia handles anti semitic demonstrations at their university.

“Now is not the time for Columbia University to regress as it works to combat the rampant antisemitism plaguing the school. So far Columbia has largely failed to uphold its commitment to Jewish students and faculty – leaving them to face harassment, intimidation, and even assault,” Walberg, whose committee has asked the school for detailed student disciplinary records, said in a statement.

Three federal agencies said they welcomed Columbia’s policy changes announced last week, apparently signaling the first steps of a possible restoration of money to the institution.

Columbia was the first college to see its funding slashed as part of President Donald Trump’s threats to cut federal money to colleges accused of tolerating antisemitism amid the Israel-Hamas war that began in October 2023. The school has repeatedly stated it will not tolerate antisemitism.