The school must take corrective actions against anti-Semitism by the end of today or lose billions in federal aid.
Columbia University Interim President Katrina Armstrong signaled that she’s working with President Donald Trump and federal agencies to implement protections for Jewish students and restore funding from the U.S. Department of Education by the March 20 deadline.
The education department’s Office for Civil Rights rescinded $400 million in federal grants to Columbia earlier this month after its investigation determined the Ivy League school failed to properly address persistent events of anti-Semitism following protests and campus occupations where Jewish students were harassed.
Former Columbia University President Nemat “Minouche” Shafik resigned in August 2024, the third Ivy League president to do so, following months of criticism about her handling of protests against the war in Gaza.
On March 13, federal agencies sent a letter outlining nine “preconditions” that Columbia University must meet to be considered for future federal grants. For the 2024–2025 academic year, the school received about $5 billion.
Chief among those conditions are enforcing a mask ban so students cannot conceal their identities, eliminating the university judicial board and moving student disciplinary proceedings to the president’s office, ensuring that Columbia security personnel have full law enforcement authority to remove agitators from campus, placing specific academic programs in “receivership” to monitor for anti-Semitic instruction, and reforming the admissions process to avoid bringing in new anti-Semitic students.
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“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,” Armstrong said in the statement.
“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.”
The statement also noted Columbia University will launch a webpage that will contain regular “updates on all the progress” it’s making in these areas.
“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,” Armstrong said.
A Columbia University spokeswoman said the school does not have additional information or comment beyond Armstrong’s March 19 statement.
Original News Source Link – Epoch Times
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