Columbia University President Minouche Shafik enjoying 24/7 security at ... trends now

While a pro-Palestine mob holds her school hostage and their Jewish classmates share their fears of being attacked on campus, Columbia University President Minouche Shafik is enjoying round-the-clock private security in the Manhattan mega-mansion she lives in rent free. 

DailyMail.com can reveal that a gated perimeter has been set up with a 24-hour guard at the President's House, a 10,000ft palace just a few blocks from the school where her $42,000, red Tesla Y remains parked in the driveway. 

The historic six-story mansion was given to the university leader for the duration of her tenure in the role, which has an estimated salary of nearly $5 million per year.  Should it ever go on the market, the property would be worth around $16million.  

DailyMail.com visited the property on Wednesday but was told by a security guard that no unauthorized visitors were allowed to knock the door or even make a request through the intercom. A security guard who was based at the entrance did not confirm whether Shafik was inside but several members of her staff were seen inside the grounds. 

Staffers said she was working from her office on the main campus, which is accessible via a private walkway at the rear of the house, but Shafik was not seen.  

The security guard, who works for Allied Universal, said he had been at the property since midnight and would be replaced at 8am. He confirmed the heightened security measures were in response to the recent protests on and around the campus.

A local resident walking her dog also pointed out the new measures, which she said were unfair under the circumstances. 

‘[Shafik] gets protection but the students on campus don’t get protection.' 

The curtains were drawn at the grandiose property, which is also believed to include offices for Shafik’s staff.

The mansion, in a leafy section of Manhattan’s Upper West Side, is just a block away from the Columbia campus where tensions have flared throughout the past week.

The property boasts views across Morningside Park and underwent a multimillion dollar renovation in 2005 to the tune of $23million. 

On campus, emboldened student protesters were enjoying a 48 hour extension on their sit-in. 

The NYPD had been primed to clear them out last night but were called off at the last minute. The students were then given until 8am today to make themselves scarce, but that deadline has now been pushed back.

They have remained on the campus green all week, blocking Jewish students and professors while demanding a ceasefire in Palestine. 

They say they are angry at Columbia for using tuition to support Israel-linked companies and investments. 

Meanwhile, Jewish students and parents are furious that their $90,000-a-year tuition has led to cancelation of all in-person classes. 

'I pay a lot of money to go to this school and I can't get access to the same areas... it's absurd,' Jessica Schwalb told Fox's Lauren Ingram last night. 

Shafik, 61, became Columbia's first woman president this academic year, succeeding former university boss Lee Bollinger, who stepped down in 2023. 

The Egypt-born academic was previously director of the London School of Economics and Political Science and began her career as the youngest vice president ever of the World Bank, at the age of 36.