Columbia U’s New Acting President Called Congressional Anti-Semitism Hearings “Capitol Hill Nonsense,” Reveals House Report

By: Fern Sidman

Columbia University’s newly appointed acting president, Claire Shipman, is facing mounting scrutiny after a December 2023 text message surfaced in which she dismissed high-profile congressional hearings on campus anti-Semitism as “Capitol Hill nonsense.” The controversial remark, along with other private communications between top Columbia administrators, was disclosed in a sweeping 325-page report released by the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce, according to a report on Saturday in The New York Post.

Shipman, a former CNN White House correspondent and ex-wife of Obama-era press secretary Jay Carney, had served as co-chair of Columbia’s board of trustees prior to being elevated to acting president Friday night. She steps into the role following the resignation of interim president Katrina Armstrong — the second leadership departure in less than a year amid the university’s ongoing struggle to address tensions surrounding pro-Hamas campus activism and anti-Semitism concerns.

According to the information provided in The New York Post report, Shipman’s now-public remarks came in the form of a text message sent on December 28, 2023, to then-Columbia President Minouche Shafik. “I do think we should think about unsuspending the groups before semester starts to take the wind out of that,” Shipman wrote, referring to student groups involved in campus protests against the war in Gaza. She also added, dismissively, “I thought we might escape the Capitol Hill nonsense,” in reference to the widely publicized hearings before the House Education Committee.

The hearings, held that same month, made national headlines after the presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and MIT were grilled over whether calls for genocide against Jews would violate their institutions’ bullying and harassment policies, The New York Post reported. Their ambiguous answers — claiming that “it depends on the context” — triggered widespread backlash and ultimately led to the resignations of Harvard’s Claudine Gay and Penn’s Liz Magill.

The Columbia administration’s communications, which were obtained and published by the House Committee, showed a general tone of disdain and condescension toward federal lawmakers and their inquiry into campus anti-Semitism, as was indicated in The New York Post report. The committee’s report highlighted a series of leaked internal messages, including Shipman’s texts, which suggest that top university officials viewed the congressional hearings not as a serious investigation into hate speech and harassment, but rather as a political distraction.

Shipman’s texts, now under the microscope, highlight the broader institutional culture at Columbia that prioritized reputation management and public optics over a direct and unambiguous response to the surge in anti-Semitic incidents on campus,  The New York Post report said,

Shipman’s appointment comes just days after the resignation of Dr. Katrina Armstrong, who had served briefly as Columbia’s interim president following Shafik’s own resignation in August 2024. Armstrong had drawn heavy criticism for agreeing to implement a campus mask ban during protests — a controversial move that was reportedly made under pressure from the Trump administration in exchange for maintaining access to $400 million in federal funding. According to The New York Post report, Armstrong allegedly gave private assurances to faculty that the policy would not be enforced, a duplicity that ultimately cost her the support of both campus constituencies and federal authorities.

The repeated turnover in Columbia’s leadership calls attention to a profound governance crisis at one of the nation’s most prestigious universities — and highlights the deepening divide between elite academic institutions and national lawmakers over how to confront hate speech, student activism, and the limits of free expression.

The New York Post reported that neither Shipman nor Columbia University provided immediate comment when asked about the leaked messages or her recent appointment. Her selection to helm the university, however, is already generating fierce debate within and beyond the Columbia community. Critics say her texts reflect a dangerous trivialization of anti-Semitism, particularly in an academic climate where Jewish students have increasingly reported feeling unsafe or marginalized amid ongoing protests over the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Meanwhile, some defenders argue that Shipman’s background as a journalist and trustee gives her insight into crisis communication and strategic governance — qualities desperately needed during Columbia’s current institutional upheaval. Still, her casual dismissal of a nationally televised congressional inquiry into the significant escalation of vitriolic anti-Semitism on America’s college campuses as “nonsense” is likely to fuel further calls for transparency and accountability.

As the fallout from these revelations continues to unfold, Columbia University is once again at the center of a national conversation about the limits of campus speech, the obligations of leadership, and the moral clarity demanded in the face of rising Jew hatred.

The revelations brought to light in The New York Post report have turned what might have been an administrative shuffle into a potential inflection point for Columbia — and a warning sign for other elite institutions that have struggled to navigate the volatile intersection of identity politics, geopolitical protest, and student activism.

Shipman’s leadership tenure is only just beginning. Whether she can restore trust, particularly among Jewish students and alumni, or whether her appointment will further erode confidence in Columbia’s ability to confront the pernicious scourge of campus anti-Semitism, remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: the “Capitol Hill nonsense” she once dismissed is now a very real political and reputational challenge sitting on her own desk.