Columbia University president Minouche Shafik says negotiations with student protesters have fallen apart

Columbia University’s embattled president Minouche Shafik reportedly admitted that talks between the school and the students protesting Israel’s war on Gaza have broken down.

University administrators negotiated with the protesters during much of last week, even as the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, visited the campus to berate protesters and to call for Ms Shafik to resign.

The president issued a statement saying that “regretfully, we were not able to come to an agreement” with the protesting students.

The students are calling on Columbia University to protect its Palestinian student population and to divest from any programs that benefit Israel.

In a statement she issued on Monday morning, Ms Shafik said that the “University will not divest from Israel,” but that it has offered to develop an “expedited timeline” for reviewing new proposals with the Advisory Committee for Socially Responsible Investing”.

She then “urge[ed] those in the encampment to voluntarily disperse,” warning that the university is “consulting with a broader group in our community to explore alternative internal options to end this crisis as soon as possible,” the letter says.

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