Columbia University to pay over $220M in deal to restore funding

Euronews

5 days ago

Columbia University said on Wednesday it had reached an agreement with the Trump administration to pay more than $220 million (€186.76 million) to resolve a dispute over federal research funding pulled amid accusations of antisemitism on campus.
Under the agreement, the Ivy League school will pay a $200 million (€169.79 million) settlement over three years, the university said.
It will pay an additional $21 million (€17.83 million) to settle alleged civil rights violations against Jewish employees that have occurred following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, according to the White House.
'The agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty,' acting university president Claire Shipman said.
The university had been threatened with the potential loss of billions of dollars in government support, including more than $400 million (€339.62 million) in grants cancelled earlier this year.
Columbia's alleged failure to address antisemitism on campus during the Israel-Hamas war was cited as the reason behind the funding being pulled.
Since then, Columbia has agreed to a series of conditions including a revision of its student disciplinary process and the adoption of a contentious, federally endorsed definition of antisemitism. This would apply not only to teaching but also to a disciplinary committee that has been investigating students critical of Israel.
Wednesday's agreement – which does not include an admission of wrongdoing – codifies those reforms while preserving the university's autonomy, according to Shipman.
The agreement also includes a review of Columbia's Middle East curriculum to make sure it was 'comprehensive and balanced' and appointing new faculty to its Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies.
It also promised to end programmes 'that promote unlawful efforts to achieve race-based outcomes, quotes, diversity targets or similar efforts.'
In a post Wednesday night on his Truth Social platform, President Donald Trump said Columbia had 'committed to ending their ridiculous DEI policies, admitting students based ONLY on MERIT, and protecting the Civil Liberties of their students on campus.'
He also warned, without being specific, 'Numerous other Higher Education Institutions that have hurt so many, and been so unfair and unjust, and have wrongly spent federal money, much of it from our government, are upcoming.'
Crackdown following Columbia protests
The agreement between the leading US university and the Trump administration follows months of negotiations at the more than 270-year-old university.
It was among the first target of Trump's crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus protests and on universities that he alleges have allowed Jewish students to be harassed and threatened.
Columbia's own antisemitism task force had found that Jewish students had faced verbal abuse and ostracism during the 2024 demonstrations.
However, other Jewish students taking part in the rallies as well as protest leaders said they weren't targeting Jews but instead criticising the Israeli government and its war in Gaza.