Columbia agrees to Trump administration's demands after funding cut

Columbia University said Friday it has agreed to a list of demands from the Trump administration as it seeks to begin talks to restore $400 million in federal funding.

After the administration cut off the funds over what it called failure to protect students from antisemitism, the federal government outlined steps the university would have to take to even begin discussions of getting the money back. Columbia has agreed to all of them, even the most controversial ones, such as putting certain academic departments in receivership.

The school will hire dozens of campus police officers and give them more power to arrest students; ban masks on campus; update its disciplinary policies; clarify policies on acceptable times, place and manner for protests; and move its University Judicial Board to the Office of the Provost.

It will also adopt an updated definition of antisemitism and appoint a new senior vice provost to oversee its Center for Palestine Studies and the departments of Middle East, South Asian and African studies.

The letter the Trump administration sent with its demands said concession is only a “precondition for formal negotiations regarding Columbia University’s continued financial relationship with the United States government.”

The news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

A Columbia senior administrator told the outlet the university did consider legal action against the funding recission, but it did not want to lose more funding during a legal challenge and that many of the demands were actions the school was already considering.

The concession marks a big win for the Trump administration in its war with elite universities and shows the federal government’s strategy of taking away funds could be effective in securing changes.

The administration also took $30 million in federal funds away from the University of Maine and says it paused funding for the University of Pennsylvania, although the school said it has not received notification of the move.

Columbia has been a major target of Republican lawmakers as it became the launching point for the pro-Palestinian encampments that occurred last spring. It also saw the takeover of one of its buildings during the protests, prompting a police response that made national headlines.

Multiple members of the Columbia community have since been targeted in President Trump's immigration crackdown over their roles in the demonstrations, including Mahmoud Khalil, a green-card holder arrested at school-owned housing.

The Hill has reached out to the Department of Education for comment.

On Thursday, Leo Terrell, chief of the Federal Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, had said Columbia was "not even close" to meeting the government's demands.

"Columbia University is not an example of a university that is free from antisemitism," Terrell said.

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