Columbia University’s acting president apologizes after leaked texts over Jewish board member

“The things I said in a moment of frustration and stress were wrong. They do not reflect how I feel,” Shipman wrote Wednesday in an email obtained by Jewish Insider, which she sent to “trusted groups of friends and colleagues.”

The messages, sent in 2023 and 2024 while Shipman was co-chair of Columbia’s Board of Trustees, were uncovered by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce as part of its investigation into possible Title VI violations under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The committee is probing whether Columbia has failed to protect Jewish students from harassment and discrimination.

In one January 2024 message to the board’s vice chair, Shipman wrote, “We need to get somebody from the middle east [sic] or who is Arab on our board.” She went on to single out Jewish trustee Shoshana Shendelman—who has been a vocal critic of antisemitism on campus—as “extraordinarily unhelpful,” later stating, “I just don’t think she should be on the board.”

By April 2024, Shipman suggested Shendelman might be a “mole,” and warned the board’s vice chair, Wanda Greene, to exclude her from meetings with student activists, alleging she was “fishing for information.” Greene replied by asking, “Do you believe that she is a mole? A fox in the henhouse?” to which Shipman responded, “I do.”

Shendelman, whose family fled Iran during the Islamic Revolution, had advocated for stronger measures to address surging campus unrest. Columbia did not call in law enforcement until pro-Hamas demonstrators occupied a campus building and reportedly held janitors hostage. “I’m tired of her,” Greene wrote in one exchange. “So so tired,” Shipman replied.

In her email apology, Shipman wrote, “I have apologized directly to the person named in my texts, and I am apologizing now to you… I should not have written those things, and I am sorry. It was a moment of immense pressure, over a year and a half ago… But that doesn’t change the fact that I made a mistake. I promise to do better.”

Shipman emphasized her support for the Jewish community, writing, “One thing I hope salacious headlines will not obscure—my deep commitment to fighting antisemitism and protecting our Jewish students and faculty.”

She also linked to a list of steps the university has pledged to combat antisemitism and reaffirmed her intent to restore Columbia’s relationship with the federal government. In March, the Trump administration cut roughly $400 million in federal grants and contracts with the university, citing its failure to address antisemitic harassment. Columbia is now negotiating with federal authorities to restore those funds.

The House committee, chaired by Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), sent a letter to Columbia leadership Tuesday demanding answers about the texts and the university’s handling of antisemitism complaints.

The lawmakers wrote that Shipman’s comments raised “troubling questions” about Columbia’s priorities—especially her suggestion to appoint an Arab trustee shortly after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 massacre in Israel, which left 1,200 dead and over 200 taken hostage. The committee noted that making board appointments based on national origin “would implicate Title VI concerns.”

The letter also condemned Shipman’s alleged marginalization of Shendelman, writing: “Your comments raise the question of why you appeared to be in favor of removing one of the board’s most outspoken Jewish advocates at a time when Columbia students were facing a shocking level of fear and hostility.”

The committee further criticized Shipman for describing Jewish students’ fears as “not necessarily a rational feeling” in an Oct. 30, 2023, message to then-president Minouche Shafik. “People are really frustrated and scared about antisemitism on our campus and they feel somehow betrayed by it,” Shipman wrote. “Which is not necessarily a rational feeling, but it’s deep and it is quite threatening.”

Shafik resigned in August 2024 amid escalating controversy, after admitting she could not recall a single example from the university’s own antisemitism report. In June, the Department of Education informed Columbia’s accreditor that the school was out of compliance with accreditation standards. Layoffs have since followed.

The committee also blasted Shipman’s December 2023 dismissal of the federal probe as “capital [sic] hill nonsense and threat,” calling the remark “disturbing” and emphasizing that congressional oversight is not nonsense but a necessary safeguard.

A Columbia University spokesperson responded in a statement to The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI, “These communications were provided to the Committee in the fall of 2024 and reflect communications from more than a year ago. They are now being published out of context and reflect a particularly difficult moment in time for the University when leaders across Columbia were intensely focused on addressing significant challenges. This work is ongoing, and to be clear: Columbia is deeply committed to combating antisemitism and working with the federal government on this very serious issue… Acting President Claire Shipman has been vocally and visibly committed to eradicating antisemitism on campus.”

The statement added that the university continues to work with the Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism and is committed to creating a “safe and welcoming environment for all community members."