\n<\/p>\n
With a 22-page document and $221\u00a0million fine, Columbia University ended its months-long battle with the Trump administration that included accusations of civil rights violations, an accreditation review and a funding freeze that disrupted research and forced layoffs.<\/p>\n
The settlement agreement, announced Wednesday night, will force changes to admissions, disciplinary processes and academic programs. In exchange, Columbia should get about $400\u00a0million in federal research funding back. The seemingly unprecedented deal will also see the federal government close investigations into alleged failures to police antisemitism on campus. (Despite the settlement, Columbia has not admitted to any allegations of wrongdoing but has acknowledged reforms were needed.)<\/p>\n
Critics have decried the agreement as a concession to authoritarian demands imposed for political control, while supporters have argued reforms are necessary at Columbia after a pro-Palestinian encampment in spring 2024 and subsequent protests disrupted campus life.<\/p>\n
Although Trump officials purportedly began their crusade against Columbia in an effort to address campus antisemitism, officials\u2019 comments indicate that conservative politics also factored into the settlement. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a monumental victory for conservatives who wanted to do things on these elite campuses for a long time because we had such far left-leaning professors,\u201d Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a FOX Business<\/em> interview following the settlement announcement.<\/p>\n The Trump administration has made clear that this agreement will serve as a roadmap for its dealings with other universities, including Harvard. Much of the agreement reflects what the administration had demanded of Columbia in March, but other provisions\u2014such as a requirement to turn over admissions data and scrutinize international student enrollment\u2014are new and reflect demands sent to other universities.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what is in the agreement and what it means for Columbia.<\/p>\n Columbia will see at least a partial restoration of federal research funds.<\/p>\n The federal government will restore grants terminated by the Department of Health and Human Services and National Institutes of Health. However, grants terminated by the Department of Education \u201cand other terminated contracts are excluded from this provision,\u201d according to the agreement.<\/p>\n Columbia will be eligible for future grants, contracts, and awards \u201cwithout disfavored treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n Columbia acting president Claire Shipman emphasized that the agreement was about much more than $400\u00a0million, telling CNN on Thursday that federal scrutiny imperiled $1.3\u00a0billion a year.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are many headlines about $400\u00a0million dollars. This is really access to billions of dollars in future funding. And it\u2019s not just money for Columbia. I mean, this is about science. It\u2019s about curing cancer. Cutting edge, boundary breaking science that actually benefits the country and humanity,\u201d she said, emphasizing the deal \u201creset\u201d Columbia\u2019s relationship with the government.<\/p>\n The agreement will close pending investigations or compliance reviews related to potential violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race or national origin. That includes a probe by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission into the treatment of Jewish employees at Columbia. Of the $221\u00a0million settlement, $21\u00a0million will go toward the EEOC complaint.<\/p>\n However, the Trump administration noted in the agreement that the deal does not affect \u201cin any way EEOC\u2019s right to bring, process, investigate, litigate, or otherwise seek relief in any charge filed by individual charging parties or third parties that may later be filed against Columbia.\u201d<\/p>\n Columbia will maintain policies announced in March that deem protests inside of academic buildings and related spaces to be a \u201cdirect impediment\u201d to the university\u2019s academic mission.<\/p>\n \u201cSuch protests in academic buildings, and other places necessary for the conduct of University activities, are not acceptable under the Rules of University Conduct because of the likelihood of disrupting academic activities,\u201d part of Columbia\u2019s settlement with the federal government reads. All protest activity will be subject to university anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies.<\/p>\n Prohibitions on masks announced in March will also remain in place.<\/p>\n Education Secretary Linda McMahon has said Columbia\u2019s \u201cunlawful encampments and demonstrations\u201d deprived Jewish students of learning opportunities.<\/p>\n Mary Altaffer-Pool\/Getty Images<\/p>\n The agreement codifies changes to disciplinary processes announced in March, such as placing the University Judicial Board under the Office of the Provost who reports to the president. Students previously served on the board, but now, it will be restricted to faculty and staff members.<\/p>\n The university president will make the final determinations on appeals cases.<\/p>\n Columbia will also add a student liaison \u201cto further support Jewish life and the wellbeing of Jewish students on campus\u201d who will advise administrations on issues such as antisemitism.<\/p>\n Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, a frequent target of the Trump administration, are also included in the agreement. The deal bars Columbia from maintaining \u201cprograms that promote unlawful efforts to achieve race-based outcomes, quotas, diversity targets, or similar efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n Per the agreement, Columbia will be required to provide reports \u201csummarizing its compliance with this obligation\u201d and to ensure that university programs do not \u201cpromote unlawful DEI goals.\u201d<\/p>\n The agreement emphasizes merit-based admissions and bars Columbia from giving preference to applicants due to \u201crace, color, or national origin.\u201d It also prevents Columbia from using personal statements, diversity narratives or references to race \u201cto introduce or justify discrimination.\u201d<\/p>\n Columbia will also be required to submit admissions data to the federal government on both rejected and admitted students, including demographic details and standardized test scores.<\/p>\n International applicants at Columbia will also be subject to additional scrutiny with the agreement dictating that the university \u201cundertake a comprehensive review of its international admissions processes and policies.\u201d That review is designed to ensure those applicants are \u201casked questions designed to elicit their reasons for wishing to study in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n Columbia is also required to provide details of \u201call disciplinary actions involving student visa-holders resulting in expulsions or suspensions, and arrest records that Columbia is aware of\u201d to the extent that is permissible under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.<\/p>\n Columbia also agreed to examine its business practices and decrease its financial dependence on international students.<\/p>\n CHUYN\/iStock Unreleased\/Getty<\/p>\n Maintaining a senior vice provost to provide greater administrative oversight of Middle East studies (and other regional programs), as initially announced in March, is also part of the agreement.<\/p>\n That official will conduct reviews of programs such as the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies; Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies; the Middle East Institute; and various other programs, according to the agreement. Those reviews are intended to ensure programs are \u201ccomprehensive and balanced\u201d and include \u201call aspects of leadership and curriculum.\u201d<\/p>\n But some faculty members have expressed skepticism about additional administrative scrutiny.<\/p>\n Michael Thaddeus, president of the Columbia chapter of the American Association of University Professors, wrote in an emailed statement that the agreement poses threats to academic freedom at U.S. universities.<\/p>\n \u201cColumbia\u2019s insistence that it will not allow the government to interfere in appointments, admissions, or curriculum is welcome. Yet the creation of a monitor, charged with scrutinizing our admissions data and our Middle Eastern studies department, opens the door to just such interference,\u201d Thaddeus said.<\/p>\n As part of the deal, a third-party resolution monitor will police the agreement.<\/p>\n Bart Schwartz, co-founder of Guidepost Solutions and former Chief of the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney\u2019s Office for the Southern District of New York, will serve in that role.<\/p>\n The agreement will allow the resolution monitor to access campus for assessment purposes.<\/p>\n Asked if Columbia believed the Trump administration would live up to its side of the agreement and if it had obtained any assurances, a university spokesperson did not provide a statement but instead pointed Inside Highe<\/em>r Ed to language in the agreement on dispute resolution.<\/p>\n That section noted opportunities for arbitration \u201cif either party reasonably believes that the other is in violation of the terms of this agreement,\u201d including reporting obligations outlined in the deal.<\/p>\n The deal also places restrictions on university hiring processes.<\/p>\n Columbia\u2019s agreement will bar the use of \u201cpersonal statements, diversity narratives, or any applicant reference to racial identity as a means to introduce or justify discriminatory practices in hiring or promotion.\u201d Other unspecified \u201cindirect methods or criteria that serve as a substitute for race conscious hiring or promotion practices\u201d are also prohibited per the deal.<\/p>\n Columbia is required to submit data on hiring and promotion practices to the resolution monitor.<\/p>\n While some elements of the agreement are new, other parts simply codify prior changes. For example, changes to disciplinary processes, and greater administrative oversight of Middle East studies (and other regional programs) already announced in March are now codified in the deal.<\/p>\n David Pozen, a Columbia law professor who has argued that \u201cthe agreement gives legal form to an extortion scheme,\u201d noted while some of the deal was foreshadowed, other parts go beyond what was previously announced.<\/p>\n Some provisions \u201care novel and don\u2019t track what was already said in March,\u201d Pozen said. \u201cThere\u2019s language, for example, about all-female locker rooms and sports teams in paragraph 20. I don\u2019t believe that has any antecedent and just seems like a new anti-trans provision. So, it\u2019s a mix of memorialization, extension and innovation in what Columbia has conceded.\u201d<\/p>\n Jessica Blake contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With a 22-page document and $221\u00a0million fine, Columbia University ended its months-long battle with the Trump administration that included accusations of civil rights violations, an accreditation review and a funding freeze that disrupted research and forced layoffs. The settlement agreement, announced Wednesday night, will force changes to admissions, disciplinary processes and academic programs. In exchange,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[273,1515,5298,2823,81,811],"class_list":{"0":"post-12206","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education","8":"tag-admin","9":"tag-breaking","10":"tag-columbia","11":"tag-settlement","12":"tag-trump","13":"tag-u-s"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Funding Streams Restored<\/h2>\n
Closure of Investigations<\/h2>\n
Protest Restrictions<\/h2>\n
Student Life Changes<\/h2>\n
DEI Ban<\/h2>\n
Changes to Admissions<\/h2>\n
Program Reviews<\/h2>\n
Resolution Monitor<\/h2>\n
Hiring Requirements<\/h2>\n
Codifying and Introducing Changes<\/h2>\n