Columbia University to pay over USD 220M in Trump deal to restore funding

Columbia University announced Wednesday it has reached a deal with the Trump administration to pay more than 220 million to the federal government to restore federal research money that was canceled in the name of combating antisemitism on campusUnder the agreement the Ivy League school will pay a 200 million settlement over three years the university said It will also pay 21 million to resolve alleged civil rights violations against Jewish employees that occurred following the October 7 2023 Hamas attack on Israel the White House saidThis agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty acting University President Claire Shipman saidThe school had been threatened with the potential loss of billions of dollars in government support including more than 400 million in grants canceled earlier this year The administration pulled the funding because of what it described as the universitys failure to squelch antisemitism on campus during the IsraelHamas warColumbia has since agreed to a series of demands laid out by the Republican administration including overhauling the universitys student disciplinary process and applying a contentious federally endorsed definition of antisemitism not only to teaching but to a disciplinary committee that has been investigating students critical of IsraelWednesdays agreement which does not include an admission of wrongdoing codifies those reforms while preserving the universitys autonomy Shipman saidColumbias reforms are a roadmap Trump administration saysEducation Secretary Linda McMahon called the deal a seismic shift in our nations fight to hold institutions that accept American taxpayer dollars accountable for antisemitic discrimination and harassmentColumbias reforms are a roadmap for elite universities that wish to regain the confidence of the American public by renewing their commitment to truthseeking merit and civil debate McMahon said in a statementAs part of the agreement Columbia agreed to a series of changes previously announced in March including reviewing its Middle East curriculum to make sure it was comprehensive and balanced and appointing new faculty to its Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies It also promised to end programs that promote unlawful efforts to achieve racebased outcomes quotes diversity targets or similar effortsThe university will also have to issue a report to a monitor assuring that its programs do not promote unlawful DEI goalsCrackdown follows Columbia protestsThe pact comes after months of uncertainty and fraught negotiations at the more than 270yearold university It was among the first targets of President Donald Trumps crackdown on proPalestinian campus protests and on colleges that he asserts have allowed Jewish students be threatened and harassedColumbias own antisemitism task force found last summer that Jewish students had faced verbal abuse ostracism and classroom humiliation during the spring 2024 demonstrationsOther Jewish students took part in the protests however and protest leaders maintain they arent targeting Jews but rather criticizing the Israeli government and its war in GazaColumbias leadership a revolving door of three interim presidents in the last year has declared that the campus climate needs to changeColumbia agrees to question international studentsAlso in the settlement is an agreement to ask prospective international students questions designed to elicit their reasons for wishing to study in the United States and establishes processes to make sure all students are committed to civil discourseIn a move that would potentially make it easier for the Trump administration to deport students who participate in protests Columbia promised to provide the government with information upon request of disciplinary actions involving studentvisa holders resulting in expulsions or suspensionsColumbia on Tuesday announced it would suspend expel or revoke degrees from more than 70 students who participated in a proPalestinian demonstration inside the main library in May and an encampment during alumni weekend last yearThe pressure on Columbia began with a series of funding cuts Then Mahmoud Khalil a former graduate student who had been a visible figure in the protests became the first person detained in the Trump administrations push to deport proPalestinian activists who arent US citizensNext came searches of some university residences amid a federal Justice Department investigation into whether Columbia concealed illegal aliens on campus The interim president at the time responded that the university was committed to upholding the lawUniversity oversight expandsColumbia was an early test case for the Trump administration as it sought closer oversight of universities that the Republican president views as bastions of liberalism Yet it soon was overshadowed by Harvard University which became the first higher education institution to defy Trumps demands and fight back in courtThe Trump administration has used federal research funding as its primary lever in its campaign to reshape higher education More than 2 billion in total has also been frozen at Cornell Northwestern Brown and Princeton universitiesAdministration officials pulled 175 million from the University of Pennsylvania in March over a dispute around womens sports They restored it when school officials agreed to update records set by transgender swimmer Lia Thomas and change their policiesThe administration also is looking beyond private universities University of Virginia President James Ryan agreed to resign in June under pressure from a US Justice Department investigation into diversity equity and inclusion practices A similar investigation was opened this month at George Mason UniversityThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text 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