Earlier this month the Trump administration canceled $400 million in grants to Columbia University. In a subsequent move, the timing of which may or may not have been coincidental, Columbia finally punished students who had taken over an academic building last spring. Six students were expelled and 16 more were suspended or had their degrees revoked.
Also last week, the Trump administration sent the school a letter outlining 9 things it needed to do if it wanted the grants restored. Here's the full list:
- Enforce existing disciplinary policies. The University must complete disciplinary proceedings for Hamilton Hall and encampments. Meaningful discipline means expulsion or multi-year suspension.
- Primacy of the president in disciplinary matters. Abolish the University Judicial Board (UJB) and centralize all disciplinary processes under the Office of the President. And empower the Office of the President to suspend or expel students with an appeal process through the Office of the President.
- Time, place, and manner rules. Implement permanent, comprehensive time, place, and manner rules to prevent disruption of teaching, research, and campus life.
- Mask ban. Ban masks that are intended to conceal identity or intimidate others, with exceptions for religious and health reasons. Any masked individual must wear their Columbia ID on the outside of their clothing (this is already the policy at Columbia’s Irving Medical Center).
- Deliver plan to hold all student groups accountable. Recognized student groups and individuals operating as constituent members of, or providing support for, unrecognized groups engaged in violations of University policy must be held accountable through formal investigations, disciplinary proceedings, and expulsion as appropriate.
- Formalize, adopt, and promulgate a definition of antisemitism. President Trump’s Executive Order 13899 uses the IHRA definition. Anti-“Zionist” discrimination against Jews in areas unrelated to Israel or Middle East must be addressed.
- Empower internal law enforcement. The University must ensure that Columbia security has full law enforcement authority, including arrest and removal of agitators who foster an unsafe or hostile work or study environment, or otherwise interfere with classroom instruction or the functioning of the university.
- MESAAS Department – Academic Receivership. Begin the process of placing the Middle East, South Asian, and African Studies department under academic receivership for a minimum of five years. The University must provide a full plan, with date certain deliverables, by the March 20, 2025, deadline.
- Deliver a plan for comprehensive admissions reform. The plan must include a strategy to reform undergraduate admissions, international recruiting, and graduate admissions practices to conform with federal law and policy.
That letter concluded by saying Columbia had one week to comply. That week would expire tomorrow, March 20.
Today, Columbia's interim president Katrina Armstrong published a letter in response signaling that the school is ready to work with federal regulators. It's a bit long but here's a portion of it.
Understandably, many inside and outside of our community have voiced concern, asking how we will respond. Some have examined each pre-condition on its own, weighing the acceptable versus the intolerable. Many bristle at the very idea that an institution like ours—an institution whose very value is premised on free inquiry and free expression—should ever be subject to such a list.
Let me be clear about our path forward: it is our utmost responsibility to uphold and deliver on our academic mission, always. We are committed to doing what’s right for Columbia and will not waver from our principles and the values of academic freedom and free expression that have guided this institution for the last 270 years...
Legitimate questions about our practices and progress can be asked, and we will answer them. But we will never compromise our values of pedagogical independence, our commitment to academic freedom, or our obligation to follow the law.
We will also continue — as is our responsibility and as we have done throughout our history — to engage in constructive dialogue with our federal regulators, including on the work we are doing to address antisemitism, harassment, and discrimination, the tangible progress we are making, and the intensity of our commitment to this ongoing work.
The response does not seem that clear cut to me. It never says if the school intends to meet the nine demands spelled out in the original letter. Nevertheless, the Wall Street Journal reported shortly before the letter was released that Columbia was on the verge of yielding.
Columbia University is getting close to yielding to President Trump’s demands in negotiations to restore $400 million in federal funding, according to people close to the discussions...
Trustees have been huddled for days. Progress has been one step forward, two steps back, with some board members deeply concerned the university is trading away its moral authority and academic independence for federal funds. Others have argued the school has limited options because it relies on federal money.
The leadership is also concerned about the optics of the Trump administration dictating policy at Columbia, which is one of the most historically left-leaning elite institutions in the U.S. Officials worry about backlash from faculty and possible protests when students return from spring break next week.
Apparently the sticking point is point #8 which involves putting the Middle East, South Asian, and African Studies department under academic receivership. The WSJ says having Trump demand such an outcome was "unpalatable" to many on the faculty. So I don't think they've agreed to that yet. Still if we get a mask ban, a definition of antisemitism and a real plan to hold students accountable, that would be a big step forward.
Columbia's student paper hasn't published a story about this yet so I'm guessing we'll get one complete with lots of blowback from far-left professors later tonight or tomorrow.