Minouche Shafik was inducted as the 20th President of Columbia University on the morning of 4th of October 2023 at Columbia University’s Morningside Lawns. The event was sprinkled with multiple protests on a plethora of issues but ended in optimism with some protestors saying they have high expectations of her as the incoming president.
Welcoming the new president, Deputy Mayor of New York Sheena Wright said, “We are thrilled by your leadership and excited to partner with you.” While the welcome address was underway, on the other side of the podium, there were protests against Columbia’s administration for various issues, which was the prevailing theme of the event.
The medical school student body could be seen protesting against Robert Hadden, an OBGYN who is accused of sexual assault. Nigel Waide, 24, a medical student at Columbia said, “We are trying to raise awareness about a predator OBGYN, Robert Hadden who has assaulted over 500 women in 25 years.” Adding to the conversation, Roland Escot, 23, another medical student said, “Biggest challenge is getting the college to notify former patients who have been victims.” Another student said on the request of anonymity, “No internal investigation has been done yet, and the medical school is particularly quiet. The institution must notify the patients because they have a right to know.”
Medical students protesting against Robert Hadden
While the protests were going on, the inauguration speech continued. Johnathan Lavine, Chief Emeritus Board of Trustees at Columbia University said, “Inauguration is a reminder that education is a lifelong endeavor, and our role as alumni is in continuous growth of the university.” Following the welcome, Minouche Shafik took the podium. She started off her speech by speaking about her background, “I’m a third-generation PhD. We started from scratch in the 1960s, and I was a child in the desegregation era.”
Columbia’s 20th President, Minouche Shafik
As the speech was underway, another group of people was protesting about the low-pay post-doctoral students and research faculty receive at Columbia University. Laura Xicota, a 35-year research fellow said, “We have been negotiating since May. Columbia is not meeting our demands. We want to be paid a living wage because most of us are paying half our salaries in rent. Our salaries should at least be adjusted for inflation.”
Research associates protesting for a fair wage
As the people protested, Shafik also spoke about the community at large, “What would a new social contract look like between university and society? We are living in a time of great divide. We need international agreements on issues.” Shafik did address some of the contemporary issues in her speech, “Some of the best research questions come from the real world. Think of areas like climate, artificial intelligence, the connection of neuroscience and mental health. Those are the areas where we can show leadership and contribute in concrete ways beyond the academia.”
In fact, climate change is another issue that saw protests at the event. “The climate school is being funded by Chevron, which is a fossil fuel company. It is against our policies. However, Shafik has spoken at climate conferences and sees it as an issue. We do have high expectations from her.” Said Heather Chen, 19, a student at Columbia Climate School.
Climate protestors
With the plethora of protests at Shafik’s inaugural ceremony, she has a lot to live up to and resolve the existing tensions at the university.
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