Columbia University said Friday it agreed to a list of requests from the Trump administration.
After the administration cut off funding for what it called not protecting students from anti-Semitism, the federal government outlined the steps that universities must take to begin debate about getting their money back. Columbia agreed to all of them, even the most controversial, to place certain academic departments in the accepting positions.
The school will hire dozens of campus police officers to increase the ability to arrest students. Masks are prohibited on campus. Update disciplinary policy. Clarify policies regarding the time, location and methods of protests allowed. The university's Judiciary Committee will be moved to Provost's office.
It also adopts an updated definition of anti-Semitism and appoints a new Senior Deputy Bureau to oversee Palestinian students and the Centre for Studies in the Middle East, South Asia and Africa.
A letter sent by the Trump administration in its request said the concessions were merely a prerequisite for formal negotiations on continued fiscal relations between Columbia University and the US government.
That's what the news was First reported By the Wall Street Journal.
A senior Columbia executive told the outlet that the university had considered legal action against funding, but he did not want to lose more funds during the legal challenge, saying many of the requests were actions the school is already considering.
This concession shows that the federal strategy of robbing funds could be effective in ensuring change as a major victory for the Trump administration in the war with elite universities.
The administration also said it had taken $30 million in federal funding from the University of Maine and suspended funding for the University of Pennsylvania, but the school said it had not received notification of the movement.
Colombia has become a major target for Republican lawmakers as it became the launch point for the Palestinian pro-Palestinian camp that occurred last spring. Additionally, one of the buildings was bought during the protest, prompting the response of police who made the national headlines.
Several members of the Columbia community have targeted President Trump's immigrant crackdown on the role of the demonstration, including Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder arrested in a school-owned home.
Oka reached out to the Ministry of Education for comments.
On Thursday, Leo Terrell, chief of the federal task force to combat anti-Semitism, said Colombia was “not close” to meeting the government's demands.
“Columbia University is not an example of a university free from anti-Semitism,” Terrell said.
