Columbia University caved to the Trump administration Friday — agreeing to policy changes including a mask ban and allowing campus cops to make arrests — after the feds yanked $400 million in funding over how the Ivy League school handled antisemitism.
The embattledMorningside Heights university — which had become the epicenter of violent anti-Israel protests — will also install new leadershipto review curriculum for its Middle East, South Asian and African Studies department and Center for Palestine Studies,according to a memo from administrators.
The school said 36 campus cops will now be empowered to arrest studentsor boot them from campus when deemed appropriate.
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The school’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong, in a letter to the school Friday painted the submission as a progression toward making its campus a safer place for all students, but did not specifically mention its Jewish population.
“The way Columbia and Columbians have been portrayed is hard to reckon with. We have challenges, yes, but they do not define us,”Armstrong wrote.
“We are a community of scholars who have deep respect for each other and our mission. We teach the brightest, most creative students in the world, and we care deeply for each and every one of them. I have every faith in our ability to overcome the greatest of challenges. We stand resilient and brilliant.”
The Trump administrationyanked roughly $400 million in grantsand contracts from the elite school back on March 7 over its failure to stamp out antisemitism on its campus — and threatened toclaw back billions more.
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The threats only escalated last week when the administration released a list of nine demands that Trump officials called a “precondition” for receiving any future federal cash with a Friday deadline.
In a four-page document released Friday, Columbia listed the specific steps it was — and already had — taken to rectify antisemitism on campus including reforming its judicial review board, hiring a new provost position with increased responsibilities, and banning unnecessary masks for students.
The first bullet point in the memo mentioned suspending, expelling or temporarily revoking the degrees of the students who stormed Hamilton Hall— and stated disciplinary reviews of participants in subsequent encampments were ongoing.
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The Trump administration had demanded Columbia “enforce existing disciplinary policies” —namely by punishing those responsible for the violenttakeover of Hamilton Hallin April 2024 that saw dozens of masked anti-Israel rioters smashing their way inside.
“Meaningful discipline means expulsion or multi-year suspension,” the demand stated.
Columbia also revealed it would cede to the White House’s call for a reorganization of discipline processes — but did not totally give in to other demands.
Rather than abolish its University Judicial Board as instructed, Columbia revealed it would restructure the panel under the Office of the Provost and would have itsfive members“undergo a rigorous vetting and conflict review process to ensure objectivity, impartiality, and commitment to following and enforcing our community’s rules and policies.”
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The school also noted it would appoint a new senior vice provost, who would be tasked with reviewing the embattled Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies Department — which the Trump admin demanded be put into “academic receivership.”
Academic receiverships are a rare measure taken to fix a dysfunctional college department by appointing an outside professor or administrator as its chair.
The new senior vice provost will oversee class leadership and the curriculum to “ensure the educational offerings are comprehensive and balanced,” Columbia stated.
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This new senior vice provost will also be responsible for vetting newly hired non-tenured faculty members across the university.
On a similar note, Columbia committed to promoting academic diversity and “institutional neutrality” among faculty, according to the memo.
Trump also pushed for a mask ban on campus, which Columbia agreed to, barring religious or medical reasons.
“We have had important instances in the recent past where individuals unaffiliated with the University have caused significant disruptions on our campus,” noted the memo.
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The Ivy will also now require that protesters and demonstrators identify themselves when asked or else face disciplinary action.
Columbia, however, stopped short at prohibiting protests altogether insideschoolbuildings or places where academic activities take place, saying that they are “generally not acceptable … because of the likelihood of disrupting academic activities.”
A K-12 curriculum “focused on topics such as how to have difficult conversations, create classrooms that foster open inquiry, dialogue across differences and topics related to antisemitism,” will also be developed by the college, the memo stated.
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The exclusive university also announced that they are reviewing their admissions policies across all colleges to ensure standards are unbiased, citing a recent downturn in both Jewish and African American enrollment.
The Ivy League school considered its legal options in fighting Trump’s demands but decided it would be an uphill battle against the feds, a senior Columbia administrator toldthe Wall Street Journal.
“Since October 7, Jewish students have faced relentless violence, intimidation, and anti-Semitic harassment on their campuses — only to be ignored by those who are supposed to protect them,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said when the frozen funds were first announced.
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“Universities must comply with all federal antidiscrimination laws if they are going to receive federal funding. For too long,Columbia has abandoned that obligation to Jewish studentsstudying on its campus. Today, we demonstrate to Columbia and other universities that we will not tolerate their appalling inaction any longer.”
At the time, Brian Cohen, executive director of Columbia and Barnard’s Hillel chapter, said he hoped it would serve as a wake-up call to administrators.
“Columbia has an antisemitism crisis, and for months, I have worked with faculty, staff, students, parents, and alumni to urge the administration to act quickly to address this crisis and avoid lasting damage to the University,” he said.
“I hope this federal action is a wake-up call to Columbia’s administration and trustees to take antisemitism and the harassment of Jewish students and faculty seriously so that these grants can be restored, the vital work of the University can continue, and that Columbia can become, once again, a place where the Jewish community thrives.”
