Columbia University agrees to Trump admin demands to restore funding

• Columbia University decided to comply with the Trump administration’s demands to restore funding. Changes include formalizing its definition of antisemitism and empowering campus police with arrest powers.

• Interim president Katrina Armstrong stated that the university’s response was aimed at making every student, faculty, and staff member feel safe and welcome on campus.

• Columbia will adopt institutional neutrality, refrain from taking official political positions, and enhance Middle East studies by hiring new faculty with joint positions in Israel and Jewish Studies and other departments.

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Columbia University agreed on Friday, March 21 to meet the White House’s demands to restore $400 million in federal funding to the school. The Trump administration canceled the university’s federal grants this month, accusing it of “inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.”

The university is expected to implement all of the Trump administration’s the orders, including formalizing the school’s definition of antisemitism, a mask ban, empowering campus police officers with arrest powers and appointing a senior vice provost with broad authority to oversee the department of Middle East, South Asian and African Studies and Center for Palestine Studies.

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What’s Columbia’s response?

Columbia’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong, said in a letter Friday afternoon that the university’s response was part of its effort “to provide a safe and thriving environment for research and education, while preserving our commitment to academic freedom and institutional integrity.”

A message from Interim President Katrina Armstrong sharing progress on our priorities: https://t.co/KMb7CCQOfZ pic.twitter.com/TWhWcwAs0g

— Columbia University (@Columbia) March 21, 2025

Negotiations had been ongoing ahead of the Friday deadline. The agreement came as Harvard, Stanford, the University of Michigan and dozens of other schools face federal inquiries and similar penalties.

What other steps is Columbia taking?

The school has also said it would move forward with several steps not demanded by the government which includes adopting institutional neutrality. This means they will stop taking official positions on most political issues.

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The school said it already began searches for new faculty members with joint positions in both the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies and the departments of Economics, Political Science and School for International and Public Affairs to “contribute to a robust and intellectually diverse academic environment, reinforcing the University’s commitment to excellence and fairness in Middle East studies.”