Columbia’s Acting President Apologizes for Texts Disparaging Trustee

A congressional committee investigating antisemitism on college campuses has released private text messages from Claire Shipman, the acting president of Columbia University, that show her expressing distrust and dislike of a Jewish member of the board of trustees who had been outspoken about the treatment of Jewish students.

The text messages, which were excerpted in a letter to Ms. Shipman demanding that she provide an explanation and included texts on other subjects, were from 2023 and 2024. The timing of their release this week seemed intended to question the leadership of Ms. Shipman as she negotiates with the Trump administration over the potential return of more than $400 million in federal research funding. The administration had said it cut the funding because of what it described as the school’s failure to protect Jewish students from harassment.

The committee “is seeking clarity regarding several messages you sent that appear to downplay and even mock the pervasive culture of antisemitism on Columbia’s campus,” Representatives Tim Walberg and Elise Stefanik, two Republican members of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, wrote in their Tuesday letter to her.

Ms. Shipman sent an apology note on Wednesday to a limited group of alumni, board members and friends, saying she wanted to rebuild trust after the texts were made public.

“Let me be clear: The things I said in a moment of frustration and stress were wrong,” she wrote. “They do not reflect how I feel. I have apologized directly to the person named in my texts, and I am apologizing now to you.”

The university confirmed the authenticity of the apology note, a copy of which was provided to The New York Times by someone who received it.