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Claire Shipman

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This article is about Claire Shipman, the journalist. For other people and places with the name Shipman, see Shipman (disambiguation).

Claire Shipman
Shipman in 2021
President of Columbia University
Acting
Assumed office
March 28, 2025
Preceded byKatrina Armstrong (acting)
Personal details
Born (1962-10-04) October 4, 1962 (age 62)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Spouses
  • Steve Hurst (m. 1991; div. 1996)
  • Jay Carney (m. 1998; div.)
Children2
EducationColumbia University (BA, MIA)
AwardsEmmy Award (1990)
Peabody Award (1991)
Medal "Defender of a Free Russia" (1993)

Claire Shipman (born October 4, 1962) is an American television journalist and the former senior national correspondent for ABC's Good Morning America. Shipman is acting as president of Columbia University as of March 2025.[1][2] She was previously co-chair of the university's Board of Trustees in 2023.[3]

Early life and education

Shipman, born October 4, 1962, in Washington, D.C., is the daughter of Christie (Armstrong) and Morgan Enlow Shipman, a law professor at Ohio State University.[4] She was raised in Columbus, Ohio.[5]

She graduated from Worthington High School in Worthington, Ohio, in 1980. She is a 1986 graduate of Columbia College of Columbia University with a degree in Russian Studies and also earned a Master of International Affairs from Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs in 1994.[6][7]

Career

Reporter Shipman, outside the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in 2003

Journalism

Shipman began her career in journalism at CNN as an intern,[8] where she covered the White House and international events. In 1990, she received a Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award and an Emmy for her reporting on the Tiananmen Square protests.[9]

She spent five years at CNN's Moscow bureau covering the August 1991 Soviet coup attempt and the subsequent dissolution of the Soviet Union.[10] Shipman received a Peabody Award in 1991 as part of the CNN team that covered the failed coup and in 1993, she earned the medal "Defender of a Free Russia" from Russian President Boris Yeltsin for her reporting of the event.[11]

She worked at NBC from 1997 to 2001 and covered the White House during the Clinton administration. Shipman joined ABC News in 2001, reporting on politics, international affairs and social issues.[12]

Shipman has stated that Carney, her husband and White House Press Secretary at the time, gave her no indication that the secret operation that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden was under way in Pakistan.[13]

Along with co-author Katty Kay, a BBC journalist, she has written three New York Times bestselling books, Womenomics (2009), The Confidence Code (2014), and The Confidence Code for Girls (2018).[6]

In 2018, she attended the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference and conducted interviews on stage with US politicians Marco Rubio, Chris Coons, Tom Cotton, and Grace Meng.[14]

Columbia University

Shipman joined the board of trustees of Columbia University in 2013 and became a co-chair in 2023.[15] Her tenure's span included the 2024 pro-Palestinian campus occupations during which the NYPD entered the campus and arrested dozens of students for protesting to pressure Columbia to divest from companies benefiting from Israeli apartheid and for government officials to call for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel–Hamas war. [16]

Acting president

On March 28, 2025, Shipman, then serving as co-chair of Columbia's board of trustees, was made acting president of the university amid turmoil from protests in solidarity with Palestine and crackdowns from the Trump administration, which had cut US$400 million in federal funding from Columbia.[17] She took over for interim president Katrina Armstrong, who stepped down suddenly after what the Trump administration's Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism called a "concerning revelation" earlier that week,[18] ostensibly a call with faculty in which she downplayed Columbia's commitment to its concessions to the Trump administration.[19] The announcement was made by her co-chair David Greenwald, who then became the sole chair of the board of trustees.[20]

Review of the University Senate

Shortly after delivering her first address as acting president in her first meeting with the University Senate on April 4,[21] acting president Shipman announced on April 18[22] that the University Senate—a policymaking body composed of faculty members and students established for shared governance after the 1968 Columbia University protests[23][24]—would be subject to review.[25] According to The New York Times, the move is an "effort to potentially diminish the university senate’s authority," and one that Shipman and the trustees have used "vague language" to explain.[26]

Mass arrest of student protesters in Butler Library

After pro-Palestinian protesters occupied the main reading room at Butler Library on May 7, 2025, naming it the "Basel Al-Araj Popular University" for Bassel al-Araj, Shipman summoned the NYPD, and police in riot gear arrested 78 student protesters.[27][28] It was the fourth mass arrest at Columbia University in 18 months[29] and the largest since April 2024 when the NYPD arrested 109 in its sweep of "Hind's Hall" and the second Gaza Solidarity Encampment.[30] The policing and suppression of the protest has been described as forceful and aggressive,[31][32] with two individuals brought out in a stretcher, one of them wearing a kuffiyeh draped over their face.[33][34] The university Emergency Medical Service was denied entry by Public Safety to treat injured protestors.[35] Shipman praised the NYPD and Public Safety for what she called their "professionalism" and made scapegoats of the "small group of students" for choosing to make the institution "a target" for state repression.[36]

Boos and jeers at 2025 commencement

On May 20, 2025, during her speech at the Columbia College class day ceremony, Shipman was greeted with jeers and boos, as well as chants of "free Mahmoud" in reference to Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate held in detention since U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents abducted him from his Columbia residence on March 8.[37][38] At the university's main commencement ceremony the following day, there were also boos, jeers, and chants of "free Palestine" from the crowd of graduates during her speech, in which she acknowledged that "many in our community today are mourning the absence of our graduate Mahmoud Khalil."[39][40]

Personal life

She was married to former CNN Moscow bureau chief Steve Hurst from 1991 to 1996.[41] She was then married to former White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, with whom she has a son and daughter.[42] As of 2025, they were recently divorced.[43]

References

  1. ^ "Shipman Named Acting President | Office of Public Affairs". communications.news.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2025-03-29.
  2. ^ Otterman, Sharon; Coleman, Maia (2025-03-29). "Who Is Claire Shipman, the New Interim President of Columbia?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-03-30.
  3. ^ "Claire Shipman | Office of the Secretary of the University". secretary.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2021-09-22.
  4. ^ "Morgan Enlow Shipman". Legacy.com. December 4, 2008.
  5. ^ Otterman, Sharon (2025-03-29). "Who Is Claire Shipman, the New Interim President of Columbia?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-03-29.
  6. ^ a b "Claire Shipman". HarperCollins. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
  7. ^ "Claire Shipman, Co-Chair | Office of the Secretary". secretary.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2025-03-29.
  8. ^ Boss, Shira J. (March 2002). "From Columbia to the Kremlin and the Capital". Columbia College TODAY. Retrieved 30 March 2025.
  9. ^ "Claire C. Shipman CC'86, SIPA'94 Receives 2022 Alexander Hamilton Medal". Columbia College. Retrieved 2025-03-29.
  10. ^ "Authors | The Confidence Code for Girls". #confidencecodegirls. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
  11. ^ "Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 18.08.1993 г. № 1247". Президент России (in Russian). Retrieved 2025-03-29.
  12. ^ "Claire Shipman | Conferences". conferences.shrm.org. Retrieved 2025-03-29.
  13. ^ Kurtz, Judy. (May 14, 2014) "ABC’s Claire Shipman: My husband kept me in the dark on bin Laden" In the Know. The Hill. Retrieved January 5, 2015. https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/206036-abcs-claire-shipman-my-husband-kept-me-in-the-dark-on-bin-laden/
  14. ^ Davis, Spencer. "Here's what to know about Claire Shipman, Columbia's new acting president". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2025-05-09.
  15. ^ Otterman, Sharon (2025-03-29). "Who Is Claire Shipman, the New Interim President of Columbia?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-03-29.
  16. ^ Mann, Brian (2024-04-18). "NYPD breaks up pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia University". NPR. Retrieved 2025-03-29.
  17. ^ Otterman, Sharon; Coleman, Maia (2025-03-29). "Who Is Claire Shipman, the New Interim President of Columbia?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-05-09.
  18. ^ Blinder, Alan; Rosman, Katherine; Otterman, Sharon (2025-03-29). "Columbia President Is Replaced as Trump Threatens University's Funding". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-05-01.
  19. ^ Sulkin, Maya. "Columbia President Says One Thing to Trump Admin—and Another in Private". www.thefp.com. Retrieved 2025-05-01.
  20. ^ Huddleston, Sarah. "In rare public appearance, two Columbia trustees take questions at University Senate town hall". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2025-04-26.
  21. ^ Karam, Esha. "Shipman delivers first address as acting president at University Senate plenary". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
  22. ^ "Building on Our Commitment to Listen and Learn | Office of the President". president.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
  23. ^ "Columbia University Libraries Online Exhibitions | 1968: Columbia in Crisis". exhibitions.library.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
  24. ^ Otterman, Sharon (2025-05-06). "Could Columbia Change Who Gets to Set the Rules on Protests?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
  25. ^ Banerjee, Isha. "Shipman delivers updates on ongoing federal negotiations, senate review at University Senate plenary". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
  26. ^ Otterman, Sharon (2025-05-06). "Could Columbia Change Who Gets to Set the Rules on Protests?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
  27. ^ Pillai, Daksha. "Pro-Palestinian protesters and Public Safety officers clash at "Emergency Rally" in Butler Library". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2025-05-08.
  28. ^ Otterman, Sharon (May 7, 2025). "Pro-Palestinian Demonstrators Occupy Columbia University's Main Library". New York Times. Archived from the original on May 7, 2025.
  29. ^ Walton, Lara-Nour (2025-05-08). "To Suppress the Latest Protest, Columbia Unveils a Violent New Form of Campus Policing". ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved 2025-05-08.
  30. ^ Alfred, Tsehai. "NYPD confirms 78 arrests at Butler Library protest, all released from custody". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2025-05-08.
  31. ^ Otterman, Sharon (2025-05-08). "A Year Ago, Columbia Security Was Hands-Off at a Protest. Not This Time". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-05-09.
  32. ^ Walton, Lara-Nour (2025-05-08). "To Suppress the Latest Protest, Columbia Unveils a Violent New Form of Campus Policing". ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved 2025-05-09.
  33. ^ Davis, Spencer. "NYPD officers respond with force to protesters picketing around Columbia after arrests at Butler Library". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2025-05-08.
  34. ^ Davis, Spencer. "Shipman authorizes NYPD sweep of pro-Palestinian protest in Butler Library, police in riot gear arrest over 70". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2025-05-08.
  35. ^ Walton, Lara-Nour (2025-05-08). "To Suppress the Latest Protest, Columbia Unveils a Violent New Form of Campus Policing". ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved 2025-05-09.
  36. ^ Davis, Spencer. "Shipman praises NYPD and Public Safety 'professionalism' after Butler Library arrests". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2025-05-09.
  37. ^ Banerjee, Isha. "Columbia College celebrates 2025 Class Day". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2025-05-23.
  38. ^ Freiman, Jordan (20 May 2025). "Columbia University acting president booed during graduation speech, faces chants of "free Mahmoud"". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
  39. ^ "Columbia University's acting president booed when noting absence of activist Mahmoud Khalil in commencement speech". NBC News. 2025-05-21. Retrieved 2025-05-23.
  40. ^ Otterman, Sharon (2025-05-21). "Graduates Boo Columbia's President at Commencement After a Fraught Year". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-05-23.
  41. ^ "Columbia College Today". www.college.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2025-03-29.
  42. ^ "Columbia College Today". College.columbia.edu. 2001-10-15. Retrieved 2014-06-19.
  43. ^ Otterman, Sharon; Coleman, Maia (2025-03-29). "Who Is Claire Shipman, the New Interim President of Columbia?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-03-30.
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