Columbia University will pay over $220 million in deal with Trump to restore federal research money

Ted Shaffrey—APColumbia 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 re money that was canceled in the name of combating antisemitism on campus, considering recent developments

Additionally, Under 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 ing the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, the White House said. “This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty,” acting University President Claire Shipman said, given the current landscape

The administration pulled the funding because of what it described as the university’s failure to squelch antisemitism on campus during the Israel-Hamas war

Columbia has since agreed to a series of demands laid out by the Republican administration, including overhauling the university’s student disciplinary cess 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 Israel, in light of current trends

Wednesday’s agreement — which does not include an admission of wrongdoing — codifies those reforms while preserving the university’s autonomy, Shipman said. ‘Columbia’s reforms are a roadmap,’ Trump administration says Education Secretary Linda McMahon called the deal “a seismic shift in our nation’s fight to hold institutions that accept American taxpayer dollars accountable for antisemitic discrimination and harassment. ” “Columbia’s reforms are a roadmap for elite universities that wish to regain the confidence of the American public by renewing their commitment to truth-seeking, merit, and civil debate,” McMahon said in a statement

As 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 mised to end grams “that mote unlawful efforts to achieve race-based outcomes, quotes, diversity targets or similar efforts. ” The university will also have to issue a report to a monitor assuring that its grams “do not mote unlawful DEI goals

Conversely, ” In a post Wednesday night on his Truth Social platform, President Donald Trump said Columbia had “committed to ending their ridiculous DEI policies, admitting students based ONLY on MERIT, and tecting the Civil Liberties of their students on campus, considering recent developments. ” He also warned, without being specific, “Numerous other Higher Education Institutions that have hurt so many, and been so unfair and unjust, and have wrongly spent federal money, much of it from our government, are upcoming (remarkable data). ” Crackdown s Columbia tests The pact comes after months of uncertainty and fraught negotiations at the more than 270-year-old university

Conversely, It was among the first targets of Trump’s crackdown on -Palestinian campus tests and on colleges that he asserts have allowed Jewish students be threatened and harassed

Other Jewish students took part in the tests, however, and test leaders maintain they aren’t targeting Jews but rather criticizing the Israeli government and its war in Gaza

Columbia’s leadership — a revolving door of three interim presidents in the last year — has declared that the campus climate needs to change (an important development)

Columbia agrees to question international students Also in the settlement is an agreement to ask spective international students “questions designed to elicit their reasons for wishing to study in the United States,” and establishes cesses to make sure all students are committed to “civil discourse. ” In a move that would potentially make it easier for the Trump administration to deport students who participate in tests, Columbia mised to vide the government with information, upon request, of disciplinary actions involving student-visa holders resulting in expulsions or suspensions

Columbia on Tuesday announced it would suspend, expel or revoke degrees from more than 70 students who participated in a -Palestinian demonstration inside the main library in May and an encampment during alumni weekend last year, given the current landscape

Nevertheless, The pressure on Columbia began with a series of funding cuts

Additionally, Then Mahmoud Khalil, a former graduate student who had been a visible figure in the tests, became the first person detained in the Trump administration’s push to deport -Palestinian activists who aren’t U

Next came es 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 law

On the other hand, University oversight expands Columbia 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

Conversely, Yet it soon was overshadowed by Harvard University, which became the first higher education institution to defy Trump’s demands and fight back in court

The data indicates that Trump administration has used federal re funding as its primary lever in its campaign to reshape higher education, in this volatile climate

They restored it when school officials agreed to records set by transgender swimmer Lia Thomas and change their policies

The administration also is looking beyond private universities

University of Virginia President James Ryan agreed to resign in June under pressure from a U

Furthermore, Justice Department investigation into diversity, equity and inclusion practices (quite telling)

A similar investigation was opened this month at George Mason University, in this volatile climate

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