Laura Sparks, president of Cooper Union in New York City, announced on July 17 that she would step down In August, but the news only began to spread widely on Thursday.
“Cooper Union president Laura Sparks has resigned in disgrace after capitulating to the pro-Hamas mob on campus and abandoning Jewish students who were under attack and hiding in the library,” wrote Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) on Thursday.
Stefanik, who has been deeply critical of responses by academia to anti-Israel campus protests in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, added that “there is more work to be done, and we will not stop until antisemitic university administrators face accountability for putting Jewish students in harm’s way.”
In a July 17 message to the Cooper Union community, Sparks wrote that “nearly eight years into my tenure here, I am writing to share that I will be moving on from Cooper next month to lead a new set of initiatives beginning in September designed to advance equitable opportunity in historically marginalized communities through civic engagement, philanthropy and business in Philadelphia, another city I love.”
“I am excited about this new opportunity, but this was, by no means, an easy decision,” she said. “This past academic year revealed new challenges, and I know this community is equipped with the intellect, creativity, and compassion to continue to collaboratively advance a sustainable, long-term path, even in the turbulent times that confront us.”
At press time, the Cooper Union website stated that Malcolm King, an alumnus of the school and former board chair, is the interim president.
Sparks’s message didn’t mention “antisemitism” or “Jewish students.”
During her tenure, anti-Israel protesters trapped a group of Jewish students in the library shortly after Oct. 7, shouting “Free Palestine.”
That incident—and Sparks instructing police to stand down—prompted a lawsuit by 10 Jewish students, who alleged that the university illegally permitted and encouraged discrimination and harassment of Jews.