Columbia University agrees to Trump admin's pro-safety demands as it faces $400M+ funding loss
The school will ban masks, boost security presence on campus, and adopt a formal definition of anti-Semitism, among other measures.
The move comes after the Trump administration cut $400 million in federal funds from the university.
Columbia University in New York has agreed to many of President Donald Trump’s demands regarding school efforts against anti-Semitism after the Trump administration cut off $400 million in federal funds from the Ivy League school.
The Trump administration sent a letter to Columbia University’s leadership on March 13 accusing the school of “fundamentally fail[ing] to protect American students and faculty from antisemitic violence and harassment.” It listed several “next steps” for Columbia University to adopt “as a precondition for formal negotiations regarding Columbia University’s continued financial relationship with the United States government.”
Columbia University’s leadership agreed to many of the White House’s demands, detailing its new measures in a letter titled “Advancing Our Work to Combat Discrimination, Harassment, and Antisemitism at Columbia.”
The letter cites the university’s expelling and disciplining of students who have “violated our rules” during disruptive anti-Israel protests in 2024, and states that the school leadership will place the University Judicial Board under the university president.
The school will clarify that disruptive “protests in academic buildings, and other places necessary for the conduct of University activities, are generally not acceptable under the Rules of University Conduct.”
Columbia University’s leaders also appointed a new Senior Vice Provost who will “conduct a thorough review of the portfolio of programs in regional areas across the University, starting immediately with the Middle East.”
The school administration will also ban face masks during protests and has announced that it has “hired 36 special officers” with powers to arrest and remove disruptive protesters.
Other measures include the adoption of the “definition of antisemitism recommended by Columbia’s Antisemitism Taskforce in August 2024,” continuing the mandate that community members need to take Title VI training, expanding “intellectual diversity among faculty,” and making a “[c]ommitment to greater institutional neutrality.”
Finally, the Ivy League university will start new programs for its Tel Aviv Global Hub in Israel.
Columbia University Interim President Katrina Armstrong also released a statement on Friday announcing: “The way Columbia and Columbians have been portrayed is hard to reckon with. We have challenges, yes, but they do not define us. 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.”
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Columbia University has recently been in the news after the Trump administration initiated deportation efforts against Mahmoud Khalil, a former student at the university who played an important role in the 2024 anti-Israel protests that rocked the school.
Following Khalil’s arrest, activists graffitied Interim President Armstrong’s home, spraying it with the message: “FREE THEM ALL.”
Barnard College, an affiliate of Columbia, was also at the center of a controversy after several of its students invaded and disrupted a class on Israeli history. The students in question were expelled, leading to several protests involving building takeovers on campus.
Columbia University has also been criticized over its employment of anti-Israel Professor Joseph Massad, who praised the Oct. 7 massacre of Jewish civilians the day after it had occurred.
Campus Reform has reached out to Columbia University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
