Columbia University reached an agreement with the Trump administration Friday following a battle for its federal funding.
The Trump administration in early March pulled over $400 million from the university over its failure to protect Jewish students when its campus became the hotspot for antisemitic protests since the start of the Gaza War in 2023. University interim president Katrina Armstrong on Friday announced an update to Columbia’s policies and stated its newfound commitment to restoring order and protecting students.
In alignment with the Trump administration’s demands in order for the school to earn back its funding, Columbia agreed to ban masks on campus, hired additional campus police officers and beefed up its disciplinary office staff. The university also declared it will enforce the protest rules it already has on the books.
“This past year has been one of enormous progress, where our community of thoughtful faculty, students, and stakeholders has shaped a principled and methodical approach to meeting the moment’s challenges,” Armstrong said in the announcement. “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.”
Addressing concerns that the university is ignoring civil rights law and illegally using race as a factor for admission, Columbia also said it will train staff to adhere to the affirmative action ban.
Foreign funding will also be properly tracked and reported, the university said.
Columbia did not mention any changes to its international student admission policy, saying only that it “is subject to a variety of legal regulations,” including “anti-discrimination rules to student-visa and immigration laws.”
“In all that we do, we are committed to full compliance with these other federal and state laws that govern Columbia, while safeguarding constitutional protections,” the university said.
Columbia directed the Daily Caller News Foundation to the publicly posted documents in response to a request for comment. The university did not address questions about changes to its international student admissions.
The violent campus protests that overtook the campus since Oct. 7, 2023 culminated in several arrests at the university and the overtaking of Hamilton Hall in the spring semester of 2024, during which a university employee was allegedly held hostage. Although Columbia on March 13 claimed to have punished several students for their involvement in the incident, a spokesman for the university refused to state the names and number of students who were suspended, expelled or had their degrees revoked.
Multiple foreign students face deportation over their involvement in the protests.
“The way Columbia and Columbians have been portrayed is hard to reckon with,” Armstrong wrote. “We have challenges, yes, but they do not define us.”
The U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the General Services Administration did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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