Trump Administration Issues Columbia An Ultimatum To Restore Federal Funding | EUROtoday

The Trump administration on Thursday pressured Columbia University to make a number of main reforms, describing its calls for as a “precondition” for doubtlessly restoring the college’s federal funding, as extra federal brokers confirmed up on its campus to go looking two pupil rooms.

Last week, the Trump administration introduced it was pulling about $400 million in federal grants and contracts from the college, accusing it of failing to guard its Jewish college students throughout peaceable pro-Palestinian protests on campus final yr.

In a letter addressed to interim President Katrina Armstrong, the administration stated it was following as much as define the “immediate next steps that we regard as a precondition for formal negotiations regarding Columbia University’s continued financial relationship with the United States government.”

The letter, signed by the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education and the General Services Administration, calls for that every one adjustments be accomplished by shut of enterprise March 20.

“We expect your immediate compliance with these critical next steps,” it states.

The Trump administration says the college should implement disciplinary proceedings for actions within the spring of 2024 when peaceable pupil demonstrators took over widespread areas to protest Israel’s conflict in Gaza.

“Meaningful discipline means expulsion or multi-year suspension,” the letter underlines.

Prior to receiving the letter, Columbia on Thursday stated it has expelled or suspended some college students who occupied Hamilton Hall throughout the protests. The University Judicial Board, which the Trump administration desires to abolish, held hearings for every pupil, The Associated Press stated.

The Trump administration can be calling on the college to centralize all disciplinary processes below the Office of the President, “ban masks that are intended to conceal identity or intimidate others, with exceptions for religious and health reasons,” and current an motion plan to carry all pupil teams accountable.

“Recognized student groups and individuals operating as constituent members of, or providing support for, unrecognized groups engaged in violations of University policy must be held accountable through formal investigations, disciplinary proceedings, and expulsion as appropriate,” it stated.

The letter additionally calls for that Columbia formalizes and promulgates a definition for antisemitism.

“Anti-‘Zionist’ discrimination against Jews in areas unrelated to Israel or [the] Middle East must be addressed,” it stated.

The Middle East, South Asian, and African Studies division would even be positioned “under academic receivership for a minimum of five years,” that means school would not be accountable for the division, if the administration will get its approach.

The letter additionally asks that the tutorial establishment empower Columbia safety with full legislation enforcement authority, reform its admissions coverage and enact guidelines to forestall disruption on campus.

A spokesperson for the college stated Columbia is reviewing the message.

“We are committed at all times to advancing our mission, supporting our students, and addressing all forms of discrimination and hatred on our campus,” they advised The New York Times.

The letter “basically says, ‘We’ll destroy Columbia unless you destroy it first,’“Jameel Jaffer, the director of Columbia’s Knight First Amendment Institute, wrote on Bluesky.

Meanwhile, in a university-wide email on Thursday evening, Armstrong said she was “heartbroken to inform” neighborhood members that federal brokers from the Department of Homeland Security with judicial search warrants scoured two pupil rooms Thursday night time.

“No one was arrested or detained,” Armstrong stated. “No items were removed, and no further action was taken.”

Over the weekend, Immigration and Customs Enforcement brokers detained Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil at his university-owned residence, threatened to revoke his inexperienced card and moved him to a Louisiana ICE facility.

Khalil has since sued Columbia to forestall the college from offering an inventory of pupil activists’ names to lawmakers in Washington.