Columbia University said Friday it has agreed to the Trump administration's demands that it overhaul rules on campus protests, student discipline and more in exchange for restoring $400 million in federal funding.
The university — accused of failing to fight antisemitism amid pro-Palestinian protests — agreed to take on a formal definition of antisemitism that could include “targeting Jews or Israelis for violence or celebrating violence against them” or “certain double standards applied to Israel,” The New York Times reported. Columbia also agreed to ban protesters from wearing face masks if they are trying to conceal their identities; ban protests in academic buildings; hire a security force that can remove protesters from campus or arrest them; overhaul its student discipline procedures; and appoint a senior vice provost to oversee the balance of curriculum and leadership in its Middle Eastern studies department.
It was not immediately clear whether the agreement would result in the restoration of the funding. But it "stunned and dismayed many members of the faculty" who viewed it as caving to Trump, per The Times. And it raised questions over whether other colleges could be next.
The Trump administration is examining dozens of universities for their DEI programs, per The Associated Press. The administration told the University of Pennsylvania on Wednesday it could lose $175 million because of its transgender athlete policies.
"Columbia's capitulation endangers academic freedom and campus expression nationwide," Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said, per The Associated Press.
Columbia’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong, said the university intends to “make every student, faculty and staff member safe and welcome on our campus," The Times reported.
“The way Columbia and Columbians have been portrayed is hard to reckon with,” Armstrong said, per the media outlets. “We have challenges, yes, but they do not define us.”
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