Former Columbia President Armstrong’s “Amnesia”

By | April 8, 2025

[April 8, 2025]  Former Columbia University President Dr. Katrina Armstrong has “amnesia” when it comes to her students calling for the destruction of Israel and that Jewish students were threatened and assaulted. Further, her amnesia extended to not recalling that Columbia faculty described Jewish donors as “wealthy white capitalists” who “laundered blood money.”

Any experienced leader would be insulted if they were claiming they “don’t recall” major events, while testifying publicly under oath. But that is exactly what happened in testimony before the Department of Health and Human Services which is investigating civil rights violations at Columbia. Obtained by The Washington Free Beacon, the full transcript of her comments can be found here. She might as well have also pleaded the fifth.

Recall that Armstrong agreed, on behalf of the university, to undertake a number of specific reforms mandated by the Trump Administration in order to alleviate anti-Semitism on campus.  This was made under threat of losing $400 million in federal money.

Then, under pressure from her own faculty at a private internal meeting, she told them that she would not make those changes even after publicly announcing that she would. A leaked transcript surfaced, exposing her subterfuge. The repercussions is that she will be placed on “sabbatical” to “spend time with her family.”  It doesn’t pay to be two-faced.

Armstrong violated the most sacred character of a leader.  She was trying to have it both ways, to mollify both the federal government and her faculty. She has now lost the trust of both her faculty and the federal government. And, she might never return to academia.

We can now see that Armstrong lacks good judgment and the moral courage needed to be a good leader during difficult times. This is a fundamental character issue that once lost, is nearly impossible to regain. And it shows the school’s board of trustees recognized her duplicitous ways and probably pushed her out.

“I’m just trying to understand, how can you have such a terrible memory of specific incidents of antisemitism when you’re clearly an intelligent doctor?  Can you explain that to me; how do you not remember all these horrible specific things that happened on campus?” — Sean Keveny, acting general counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services

Katrina Armstrong shows us that the most highly educated, those entrusted with educating our university students, overseeing billions in donations and federal money, can also be untrustworthy and a coward.

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Author: Douglas R. Satterfield

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22 thoughts on “Former Columbia President Armstrong’s “Amnesia”

  1. Liz at Home

    Others have said this before, but I want to emphasize it again. Women in leadership positions are not trustworthy at all. Even if they don’t steal, lie, or cheat ( high values for men), their decision-making just sucks. SUCKS. Did I say this loud enough? Ah, but our PC/ Woke culture demands we promote these women and then celebrate our moral superiority to the world, ignoring the long-run impact of those choices. Don’t hire women, period. That might be the best solution.

    Reply
  2. Army Vet

    I hate liars. It’s just a visceral reaction because in my world, lies can get you killed and failed mission.

    Reply
  3. Wellington 🕷️

    This PAST Columbia president has helped set back both women and higher education because of her willingness to lie about important matters. This gives us good reason not to select women for important positions because their emotions have once again superseded the requirement to be logical.

    Reply
      1. Eye Cat

        She is very smart and like so many in academics I personally know, they are short term decision makers. Stay away from these women. They’re everywhere.

        Reply
  4. Mr. Savage

    Pretty and smart. Has everything going for her. But choses freely to lie to her colleagues and to the Trump Administration. Clearly this woman is a seriously flawed and untrustworthy woman. She needs to rethink her life’s choices.

    Reply
    1. Pastor John 🙏

      That’s the idea, Mr. Savage. In today’s world every thing is recorded and never ever forget that. This is a lesson it appears many senior leaders (and in her case, I use the term leader loosely). Gen. S. has mentioned this numerous times. He said to us once, “Don’t write anything in an email that you would not want to see on the front pages of the New York Times.”

      Reply
      1. Patriot Wife

        Right and now she is on the front page and pegged as a liar. Of course, Leftists will make excuses for her all day. This shows where they are. America is great. So, keep her great. Identify the liars like Armstrong. And, yes, she is now spending more time with her family and I’m sure she is blaming Trump for making her lie. Weak women like Katrina Armstrong have set women back many years.

        Reply
  5. Xerxes II

    These universities that are run by smart but morally corrupt people. Often women in their mid-50s. They probably live with their cats.

    Reply
  6. Susie Cue

    Why o’ Why do big-named universities hire women as their presidents? We saw how that worked out when three testified before Congress and got totally destroyed because they doubled-down on the anti-Semitic acts on their campuses (assaults on Jewish students and threats) were “depending on the context” of such behavior. Bottom-line, these women are simply out of their league when it comes to both good leadership and moral character. Don’t hire women or beta males for these jobs.

    Reply
  7. Pastor Jim 🙏

    Praying 🙏 for Dr. Armstrong’s soul. She showed that trust can be lost so easily.

    Reply
    1. Freedom from Liberals

      But But But… All her students love ❤️ her.

      Reply
      1. Good Dog

        Yeah, and at the same time she was promoted to what became her level of incompetence. There should be a name for that. Oh! There is a name …., The Peter Principle.
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_principle
        “People in a hierarchy tend to rise to “a level of respective incompetence”: employees are promoted based on their success in previous jobs until they reach a level at which they are no longer competent, as skills in one job do not necessarily translate to another.”

        Reply
  8. Plato

    Thanks Gen. Satterfield for highlighting how NOT TO BE A LEADER. Sad that too many people think that lying will get you someplace. Lying always comes back to haunt you. And let’s not pull any punches here. Dr. Katrina Armstrong lied. Call it duplicity or a momentary lapse in judgement. The bottom line is that no one will ever trust her again and rightly so. She is pathetic and her employment with Columbia University should be terminated with prejudice. She has embarrassed her family, her university, and her peers.

    Reply
  9. Paulette_Schroeder

    Nothing like a radical Leftist dressed up as a fake leader to allow us to see their duplicity in public. Embarrassing? Yeah. But nothing really embarrasses a whacko Leftist. Only being told that she is out of a job will do that and only because she can no longer influence the weak minds of young students with her neo-Marxist views. This is why I say that women are not made for leadership roles. They cannot be trusted. Period.

    Reply
    1. Martin Shiell

      Right. Nothing like a Marxist dressed up as an intelligent. Ha ha 🤣 😆 🤣

      Reply
  10. Judy

    All these “academics” suddenly forget that they ignored evil anti-Semitism growing under their own leadership and are now embarrassing to everyone who sees their failures.

    Reply

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