Columbia University to pay more than $200m to resolve Trump probes
Trump has targeted several universities since returning to office in January over the pro-Palestinian student protest movement that roiled college campuses last year. He welcomed the agreement between his administration and Columbia in a post on social media late on Wednesday. In March, the Trump administration said it was penalising Columbia over how it handled last year's protests by cancelling $400m in federal funding. It contended that Columbia's response to alleged anti-Semitism and harassment of Jewish and Israeli members of the university community was insufficient.
'Under today's agreement, a vast majority of the federal grants which were terminated or paused in March — will be reinstated and Columbia's access to billions of dollars in current and future grants will be restored,' the university said in a statement.
Columbia said it also agreed to settle investigations brought by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for $21m and that its deal with the Trump administration preserved its 'autonomy and authority over faculty hiring, admissions, and academic decision-making'.
After the government cancelled funding, the school acquiesced later in March to a series of demands that included scrutiny of departments offering courses on the Middle East and other concessions that were widely condemned by US academics. Last week, Columbia adopted a controversial definition of anti-Semitism that equates it with opposition to Zionism. The school said it would no longer engage with pro-Palestinian group Columbia University Apartheid Divest.
'Imagine selling your students out just so you can pay Trump $221m and keep funding genocide,' the pro-Palestinian group said on Wednesday, calling the settlement a bribe. Israel denies genocide accusations in Gaza and casts its military action as 'self-defence' after a deadly October 2023 attack by Palestinian Hamas militants.
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TimesLIVE
an hour ago
- TimesLIVE
Trump says Israel will have to decide on next steps in Gaza, pledges more aid
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Eyewitness News
2 hours ago
- Eyewitness News
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The Citizen
2 hours ago
- The Citizen
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