In a dramatic turn of events, Columbia University has yielded to the demands of the Trump administration, implementing a series of policy changes to avoid losing $400 million in federal grants.
The administration had threatened to withdraw the funding due to the university's perceived mishandling of widespread protests against Israel, which resulted in the detention of Columbia graduate student and activist Mahmoud Khalil by ICE.
According to the Daily Mail, the policy modifications were outlined in a letter from the university's interim president, Katrina Armstrong, a week after the Trump administration issued an ultimatum to the Ivy League institution: implement reforms or risk losing all federal funding. Armstrong announced that a senior vice provost would be appointed immediately to review the portfolio of the university's regional studies programs, starting with the Middle East.
In addition to this, Columbia University will overhaul its long-standing disciplinary process and prohibit protests within academic buildings. The wearing of face masks on campus will be disallowed, barring those worn for health reasons. This move is aimed at preventing individuals from concealing their identities during protests.
In a bid to bolster 'intellectual diversity,' the university will also introduce new faculty members to its Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies department. Furthermore, it will adopt a new definition of antisemitism and enhance programming at its Tel Aviv Center, an Israeli-based research hub.
The Trump administration has labeled the protests as antisemitic, a characterization vehemently rejected by the student-led demonstrators. The Education Department has yet to comment on these developments.
Federal officials stipulated that the university's Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies Department be placed under 'academic receivership for a minimum of five years' as a 'precondition' for restoring funding. They also demanded the banning of masks on campus, the adoption of a new definition of antisemitism, the abolition of the current student disciplinary process, and the submission of a plan to 'reform undergraduate admissions, international recruiting, and graduate admissions practices.'
Historians have criticized this order as an unprecedented intrusion on university rights, traditionally upheld by the Supreme Court as an extension of the First Amendment. Freedom of speech advocates have also expressed their disappointment at Columbia's decision to comply. Jameel Jaffer, the director of Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, described it as a 'sad day for Columbia and for our democracy' in a social media post.
The Trump administration justified this drastic measure as a response to the university's 'continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.' Education Secretary Linda McMahon stated that universities must comply with all federal anti-discrimination laws to receive federal funding, citing the 'relentless violence, intimidation, and anti-Semitic harassment' faced by Jewish students on their campuses.
The policy changes coincide with recent anti-Israel campus protests at Columbia's Barnard College, which were vehemently condemned by Trump. He stated on social media that 'agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on the crime, arrested. NO MASKS!'
The Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, comprising officials from the Justice Department, Education Department, Department of Health and Human Services, and U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), will continue to review and coordinate with other federal agencies to act swiftly.
Columbia University, located in New York City, has been accused by officials of neglecting its obligation to Jewish students studying on its campus. Anti-Israel protests have erupted across the nation, particularly at Columbia University and Barnard College in Manhattan, a known hotbed of pro-Gaza activism.
State Department officials have also announced plans to review foreign student visa holders who were arrested but allowed to remain in the country. This AI-enabled review will also examine news articles about the protests, which have been ongoing intermittently for the past year and a half. To date, officials have reviewed 100,000 individuals in the Student Exchange Visitor System.
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