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Columbia to acquiesce to Trump administration’s demands amid federal funding threats
The University will ban some masks on campus, hire 36 “special officers” with arrest power, and place the Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African studies department and the Center for Palestine Studies under review.
By Anna Fedorova / Deputy Photo EditorThe Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism had announced the immediate cancellation of $400 million in federal grants and contracts with the University on March 7.By Spencer Davis, Joseph Zuloaga, Emily Pickering, and August Phillips • March 21, 2025 at 9:23 PM
By Spencer Davis, Joseph Zuloaga, Emily Pickering, and August Phillips • March 21, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Updated March 21 at 6:32 p.m.
Columbia will acquiesce to demands from President Donald Trump’s administration, according to a new list of actions published on the Office of the President’s website Friday. The move comes as the University seeks to restore $400 million in federal funding.
The University will ban some masks on campus, hire 36 “special officers who will have the ability to remove individuals from campus and/or arrest them,” and place the Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African studies department and the Center for Palestine Studies under the purview of a senior vice provost, who will be appointed by the University and will supervise curriculum and non-tenure faculty hiring.
The Trump administration outlined in a March 13 letter a series of demands for Columbia that it called a “precondition for formal negotiations” regarding Columbia’s financial relationship with the federal government. The Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism announced the immediate cancellation of $400 million in federal grants and contracts with the University a week prior on March 7.
Days after the task force’s announcement, the National Institutes of Health announced that over half of the University’s $400 million cancellation would derive from NIH grants. The medical school had also announced a hiring and spending freeze weeks prior over nationwide funding limits announced by the NIH.
According to the new list of actions, the University will also adopt a new definition of antisemitism based on recommendations from the University’s Task Force on Antisemitism in August 2024.
The August definition describes antisemitism as “prejudice, discrimination, hate, or violence directed at Jews, including Jewish Israelis” and notes that antisemitism can manifest in many ways, such as “exclusion or discrimination based on Jewish identity or ancestry or real or perceived ties to Israel; and certain double standards applied to Israel.”
When asked if the University is complying with the government’s demands, a University spokesperson directed Spectator to the new web page and interim University President Katrina Armstrong’s Friday message to the University community.
The White House did not immediately respond to Spectator’s request for comment regarding the University’s measures to address its demands.
In a Friday post on X, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce wrote, “@Columbia FOLDS to the Trump admin’s demands to protect Jewish students and faculty. School administrators failed to hold pro-terror mobs accountable for rampant antisemitism.”
“Now, masks are banned during protests and safety measures are increasing. Republicans and the Trump admin are stopping it,” the post reads.
In the Friday email, Armstrong included a link to a new web page called “Fulfilling Our Commitments,” which details progress made on the priorities and commitments she laid out upon becoming interim president and includes the actions that correspond to the government’s list of demands.
Armstrong wrote in her email that “we have shared our progress on several of our key priorities with the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the General Services Administration”—the groups that sent the demands to Columbia. Armstrong linked the document that the University sent to the agencies, which includes information listed on the “Fulfilling Our Commitments” web page.
“Our response to the government agencies outlines the substantive work we’ve been doing over the last academic year to advance our mission, ensure uninterrupted academic activities, and make every student, faculty, and staff member safe and welcome on our campus,” Armstrong wrote in the Friday email.
The demands stipulated that the University complete disciplinary hearings for the April 2024 “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” and Hamilton Hall occupation, abolish the University Judicial Board and move disciplinary proceedings to the Office of the President, and implement a ban on masks “intended to conceal identity or intimidate others.”
The UJB issued suspensions, expulsions, and temporary degree revocations on March 13 for students involved in the April 2024 Hamilton occupation. Students in violation of University rules during the first encampment have received similar disciplines, with “ongoing” disciplinary proceedings against other encampment participants, according to the document.
According to the document linked in Armstrong’s email, the University Judicial Board, a five-member panel which pursues disciplinary action against students accused of breaking the Rules of University Conduct, will now be overseen by the provost, who reports to the University president.
“Final determination of appeals of disciplinary decisions will remain with the President,” Armstrong added.
Armstrong wrote that the five members of the UJB will be composed of faculty and administrators, meaning students will no longer serve on the panel. The provost will have “final approval of all panel members,” according to the document.
The Trump administration demanded that the University begin the process of placing the Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African studies department under academic receivership for a minimum of five years. Academic receivership involves employing a chair from outside the department.
Other programs that the new senior provost will conduct a “thorough review” of include the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies, the Middle East Institute, the University’s global centers in Tel Aviv and Amman, the School of International and Public Affairs Middle East policy major, and other University programs focused on the Middle East, according to the document.
The document published Friday reads that protests in academic buildings are “generally not acceptable” under the Rules “because of the likelihood of disrupting academic activities.”
“All demonstration activity is subject to the University’s anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies,” the document reads.
The document reads that all protesters must “present their University identification to the satisfaction of a University Delegate or Public Safety officer” when asked.
“Individuals who fail to comply with these policies will be subject to discipline, being escorted off campus, and detention for trespass where appropriate,” the document reads.
The document reads that masks are not allowed “for the purpose of concealing one’s identity in the commission of violations of University policies or state, municipal or federal laws” but are “always allowed for religious or medical reasons.”
The University wrote that it has hired 36 special officers with the ability to arrest or remove students from campus who have nearly completed credentialing under New York state law. It will “continue to assess the necessary size of this force to achieve our goals.”
“The University has a longstanding relationship with the NYPD,” the document reads. “While we train and credential our internal security force, we will continue to rely on our relationship with the NYPD to provide additional security assistance when needed.”
The Office of Institutional Equity “has promulgated a policy and processes for discipline of all student groups that stems from discriminatory conduct,” the document reads.
OIE can defund, suspend, or derecognize such student groups, according to the document.
The document also announced an upcoming Office for University Life sanction policy “for violations of University policy unrelated to claims of discrimination with sanctions for registered student groups.”
The University wrote that the University’s current admission processes “comply with existing law,” but that the University established an advisory group “to analyze recent trends in enrollment and report to the President.”
The Trump administration requested that Columbia deliver a plan for “comprehensive admissions reform” in its March 13 letter to the University.
The University is also working toward adopting a policy of institutional neutrality, launching new programming at the University’s Tel Aviv Global Center, and developing an online curriculum “focused on topics such as how to have difficult conversations, create classrooms that foster open inquiry, dialogue across difference and topics related to antisemitism” that will be made “widely available to K-12 schools at no cost,” according to the Friday document.
According to the document, 32,243 affiliates had completed mandatory Title VI training as of Friday. In October 2024, the University issued new Title VI training that included hypothetical examples related to campus protests. The training is due Monday.
A University official confirmed to Spectator that the newly announced policies, which have been “in the works for a while,” have been sent to the federal government.
Deputy News Editor Spencer Davis can be contacted at spencer.davis@columbiaspectator.com. Follow him on X @spencerdaviis.
Deputy News Editor Joseph Zuloaga can be contacted at joseph.zuloaga@columbiaspectator.com. Follow him on X @josephzuloaga.
Deputy News Editor Emily Pickering can be contacted at emily.pickering@columbiaspectator.com. Follow her on X @emilypckk.
Senior Staff Writer August Phillips can be contacted at august.phillips@columbiaspectator.com. Follow him on X @augustphillips_.
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