Why is David Lammy hiring Columbia’s disastrous president?

Few will shed a tear at the news that Columbia University president Minouche Shafik is stepping down after months of criticism of her handling of campus protests over the war in Gaza. Her abrupt resignation – just a few weeks before the autumn semester is due to begin – brings to a close her turbulent 13-month reign at Columbia, one of America’s most prestigious educational institutions.

‘This period has taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has for others in our community,’ Shafik wrote in an email to staff and students. ‘It has also been a period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community’. Perhaps some translation is called for, in order to understand what Shafik means by this word salad of an explanation for the reasons behind her decision to quit.

The phrase ‘divergent views’ just won’t do to describe the ugly anti-Semitism, hatred and threats directed at Jewish students on Columbia’s campus.