Under threat from Trump, Columbia University agrees to policy changes
[March 22, 2025]
By JAKE OFFENHARTZ
NEW YORK (AP) — Columbia University agreed Friday to put its Middle East
studies department under new supervision and overhaul its rules for
protests and student discipline, acquiescing to an extraordinary
ultimatum by the Trump administration to implement those and other
changes or risk losing billions of dollars in federal funding.
As part of the sweeping reforms, the university will also adopt a new
definition of antisemitism and expand “intellectual diversity” by
staffing up its Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies, according to a
letter published Friday by the interim president, Katrina Armstrong.
The announcement drew immediate condemnation from some faculty and free
speech groups, who accused the university of caving to President Donald
Trump's largely unprecedented intrusion upon the school’s academic
freedom.
“Columbia’s capitulation endangers academic freedom and campus
expression nationwide,” Donna Lieberman, the executive director of the
New York Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration pulled $400 million in
research grants and other funding over the university’s handling of
protests against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. As a precondition
to restoring those funds — along with billions more in future grants —
federal officials last week demanded the university immediately enact
nine separate reforms to its academic and security policies.
In her response Friday, Armstrong indicated Columbia would implement
nearly all of them. As ordered, it will hire new public safety personnel
and empower them to make arrests on campus, bar students from protesting
in academic buildings and revamp its long-standing process for student
discipline.
Students will no longer be permitted to wear face masks on campus “for
the purposes of concealing one’s identity.” An exception would be made
for people wearing them for health or religious reasons.
The university will also appoint a new senior provost to review the
leadership and curriculum of several international studies departments
to “ensure the educational offerings are comprehensive and balanced.”
The appointment appeared to be a concession to the Trump
administration's most contentious demand: that the university place its
Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies Department under
“academic receivership for a minimum of five years.”
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The Trump administration has repeatedly accused Columbia University
of letting antisemitism go unchecked at protests against Israel that
began at the university last spring and quickly spread to other
campuses — a characterization disputed by those involved in the
demonstrations.
In her letter, Armstrong said the university had worked hard to
“address the legitimate concerns raised both from within and without
our Columbia community, including by our regulators, with respect to
the discrimination, harassment, and antisemitic acts our Jewish
community has faced.”
“The way Columbia and Columbians have been portrayed is hard to
reckon with,” she added. “We have challenges, yes, but they do not
define us.”
The Trump administration has ratcheted up its attacks on Columbia in
recent weeks, thrusting the campus into crisis and sparking fears of
additional reprisals at colleges across the country.
On March 8, federal immigration officials arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a
prominent Palestinian activist and legal permanent resident in his
university-owned apartment building -– the “first of many” attempted
deportations, according to Trump.
Justice Department leaders say they are also investigating whether
Columbia hid students sought by the U.S. over their roles in the
demonstrations.
While Trump has made Columbia the most visible target of his
crackdown on higher education, he has put other universities on
notice that they will face cuts if they do not embrace his agenda.
His administration has announced investigations into 52 universities
for their diversity, equity and inclusion programs. And it has
suspended approximately $175 million in federal funding for the
University of Pennsylvania over a transgender swimmer who last
competed for the school in 2022.
On Friday, free speech groups warned Columbia’s response to Trump's
threat would reverberate far beyond the Manhattan campus.
"Shaking under government pressure, Columbia crumbled," said Tyler
Coward, the lead counsel for government affairs at the Foundation
for Individual Rights and Expression. “If Columbia — with its
immense resources and influence — can’t stand up to government
demands that threaten free speech, what are other colleges to do?”
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