Trump vs Columbia: Ivy league school to pay $200 million in landmark settlement; campus protests curbed

Time of India

6 days ago

Columbia University will now be paying more than $220 million along with making major policy changes as part of a settlement with the Trump administration. The deal follows allegations of civil rights violations and claims the university failed to protect Jewish students from discrimination, as reported exclusively by the New York Post.
The Ivy League university will also be subjected to federal oversight, with independent monitoring in place to ensure it adheres to merit-based admissions and hiring processes. The agreement follows four months of negotiations and comes amid mounting pressure on elite universities like Harvard, which has taken the administration to court over the loss of $2.6 billion in funding linked to similar issues.
As part of the settlement, Columbia will pay $200 million to the federal government to resolve discrimination claims and a further $20 million to Jewish staff who were reportedly targeted during anti-semitic protests on campus in the wake of the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel.
The Trump administration is touting the payout as the largest of its kind in nearly two decades under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
As per a source cited by the New York Post, when the government pulled $400 million from Columbia in March, it put billions more in research and other funding at risk.
The deal mandates that Columbia dismantle any programmes that discriminate based on race, bringing it in line with the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling that banned race-based affirmative action.
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It will also create new faculty positions aimed at boosting intellectual diversity and overhaul its approach to discipline, removing oversight from the faculty senate and placing it under the Provost's Office.
The settlement includes strong security provisions too. Columbia must coordinate with the NYPD to prevent incidents like the 2024 occupation of Hamilton Hall and impose a blanket ban on masked protests.
Disciplinary action has already been taken, with dozens of students suspended, penalised, or expelled over recent anti-Israel demonstrations.
In a further move likely to fuel debate, the university's admissions office will now vet international applicants more closely, requiring them to disclose their reasons for studying in the US, data that will be shared with federal authorities. Columbia will also report disciplinary actions for visa-holding students under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVIS) and reduce reliance on international enrolment.
Several academic departments and international centres, including the Center for Palestine Studies and the Middle East Institute, will now come under close scrutiny by a newly created senior vice provost role, aimed at ensuring ideological balance and compliance with federal rules.
The school will also align with Title IX standards by ending policies that allow biological men to compete in women's sports or use women's facilities.
Most of the $400 million in previously frozen federal funding will be restored once Columbia meets all conditions of the agreement. The resolution will remain in effect for three years, with a compliance monitor issuing twice-yearly updates on progress.
'This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty,' said acting president Claire Shipman.
'The settlement was carefully crafted to protect the values that define us and allow our essential research partnership with the federal government to get back on track. Importantly, it safeguards our independence, a critical condition for academic excellence and scholarly exploration, work that is vital to the public interest.'
Leaked details from the talks suggest that Columbia agreed to release internal admissions and hiring data and accept the $200 million fine to avoid further loss of research funding.
In March, the White House issued nine key demands as a prerequisite for federal support, including enforcement of institutional neutrality and academic diversity.
The final deal explicitly bans the use of diversity narratives or racial identity statements in applications, in a move likely to send ripples through higher education.
The conflict has led to dramatic leadership changes at Columbia. President Minouche Shafik stepped down in August 2024 amid escalating protests.
Her interim successor, Katrina Armstrong, was removed just seven months later after publicly supporting the administration's mask ban, while privately assuring faculty she wouldn't enforce it.
She has now been replaced by Shipman, whose past private messages questioning fears of anti-semitism and pushing to remove the only Jewish board member and quick appointment of an 'Arab' member instead,have triggered a congressional investigation.
Republican lawmakers are currently reviewing whether new laws are needed to hold university leadership more accountable, amid growing concerns over campus anti-semitism and ideological bias.