Columbia agrees to Trump demands on campus antisemitism to win back $400 million federal funding

School reportedly agreed to stepped-up police power over students, banning masks, and reorganizing a major department

Columbia University has largely agreed to a series of sweeping changes the Trump administration demanded from the university to restore $400 million in suspended federal funding.

The university will give police new powers to arrest students, partially ban face masks, and appoint a university official to oversee changes at a suite of university departments.

“We have worked hard to address the legitimate concerns raised both from within and without our Columbia community, including by our regulators, with respect to the discrimination, harassment, and antisemitic acts our Jewish community has faced in the wake of October 7, 2023,” the university said in a memo.

“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,” interim president Katrina Armstrong said in an accompanying statement.

The agreement includes the university hiring 36 “special police officers” who “will have the ability to remove individuals from campus and/or arrest them when appropriate,” according to the document.

It also announces a senior provost will review a large portfolio of academic departments related to the Middle East, echoing a call from the Trump administration to put some such departments under “receivership.” The programs include the Center for Palestine Studies; the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies; and the department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies; as well as Columbia’s global hubs in Tel Aviv and Amman, Jordan.

Columbia is among numerous top universities the administration has accused of failing to stop antisemitism on campus

Columbia added that it has adopted a position of “institutional neutrality,” and will be seeking to expand “intellectual diversity” through appointments to its Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies and the departments of Economics, Political Science, and School for International and Public Affairs.

The White House had accused the university of failing to stop on-campus antisemitism during large-scale pro-Palestine protests in 2023 and 2024, and demanded the university make the changes in a letter sent to campus officials last week.

The academic world has been closely watching for Columbia’s response to the demands, part of the administration’s attempts to stop what it sees as rising antisemitism and pro-Hamas sentiment on campus.

FIRE, a free speech advocacy group, said in an email statement to The Independent that it was alarmed how Columbia “crumbled” under pressure from the White House.

“The federal government abandoned its existing process to brow-beat Columbia — and Columbia folded. Higher education reform shouldn’t resemble a shakedown,” Tyler Coward, FIRE lead counsel for government affairs, wrote. “Colleges and universities shouldn’t be bullied into accepting speech-restrictive demands because the government dangles a $400 million check over an institution’s head. Any changes made as a result of this flawed process are inherently suspect.”

Critics say the Trump administration is in fact attempting to crack down on criticism of the U.S.-Israel alliance and stifle left-leaning speech more broadly.

Some, like Columbia’s Jewish alumni association, had called for the school to accept the changes.

“We urge Columbia to ignore all media framing, TAKE THIS LIFELINE, and act decisively now to restore the mission and the future of the university,” it wrote in a statement on X on Wednesday. “This has been an immensely difficult time. Let's not lose this opportunity to restore our beautiful school's legacy.”

Others saw the White House stance as a sign of encroaching authoritarianism.

“This attempt to discipline and control a university campus is a transparent hallmark of authoritarian rule and harshly violates the central mission of education: teaching, research, and service to the broader society for the public good. We also believe it to be illegal,” the American Association of University Professors said in a statement when the Trump administration first outlined its demands.

At the same time the administration has put pressure on Columbia financially, it has also directed immigration agents to arrest non-citizen students and recent graduates over their involvement in the pro-Palestine protests, arguing they threaten U.S. national interests.

The arrest this month of recent Columbia graduate and U.S. legal permanent resident Mahmoud Khalil has become a widely watched case around the country.

The administration accuses Khalil, a campus protest leader, of supporting Hamas, which he denies. Khalil is challenging his detention and argues it violates his First and Fifth Amendment rights.

The university has taken other controversial actions on its own, including a expelling a Jewish student union leader who participated in the protests right before contract negotiations.

Other universities may soon experience something like Columbia.

The Department of Education warned at least 60 colleges and universities this month of their obligations to protect the rights of Jewish students, noting federal financial support “is a privilege, and it is contingent on scrupulous adherence to federal anti-discrimination laws.”