Trump admin orders Columbia to crack down on protesters, fight anti-Semitism, ban masks to have $400 million restored
Columbia ‘has fundamentally failed to protect American students and faculty from antisemitic violence and harassment,’ the letter states.
If Columbia accepts the administration’s demands, it would need to implement a mask ban and expel protesters involved in the 2024 campus disruptions, among other measures.
President Donald Trump’s administration recently gave Columbia University in New York a list of requirements to be met if the Ivy League school’s leadership wants to recover the $400 million recently cut by the White House.
The Thursday letter was sent by Commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service Josh Gruenbaum, Acting General Counsel of the Department of Education Thomas E. Wheeler, and Acting General Counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services Sean R. Keveney.
It was addressed to Interm Columbia President Katrina Armstrong and David Greenwald and Claire Shipman, Co-Chairs of Columbia’s Board of Trustees.
The Trump administration officials warn that Columbia “has fundamentally failed to protect American students and faculty from antisemitic violence and harassment.” They list a series of stipulations for Columbia’s leadership to meet if the school leaders want a “continued financial relationship with the United States government.”
Specifically, the administration is calling on Columbia to expel or suspend students who acted disruptively during the 2024 anti-Israel protests, grant the school president more powers to discipline students without being forced to go through the University Judicial Board, and put in place “permanent, comprehensive time, place, and manner rules to prevent disruption of teaching, research, and campus life.”
The letter also tells Columbia to ban masks “that are intended to conceal identity or intimidate others,” adopt “a definition of antisemitism,” make sure that “Columbia security has full law enforcement authority, including arrest and removal of agitators who foster an unsafe or hostile work or study environment,” and “[b]egin the process of placing the Middle East, South Asian, and African Studies department under academic receivership for a minimum of five years.”
“Academic receivership” means that Columbia’s leaders will impose an “outside chair” to oversee the department instead of existing faculty.
Shortly before receiving the letter, Columbia announced that it was permanently kicking out certain activists who took part in the 2024 takeover of the Hamilton Hall building on campus as part of the anti-Israel disruptions.
The school’s leadership previously recognized that the Trump administration has “legitimate concerns” following its decision to remove $400 million in federal funding from the school over anti-Semitism concerns.
Campus Reform has reached out to Columbia University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
