Among the preconditions for formal discussions to restore $400 million in federal funding, which the Trump administration is withholding from Columbia University for its failure to respond adequately to Jew-hatred on campus, are banning masks, reforming the admissions process and moving campus discipline under the university president directly, according to a letter that The Free Press reported.
Officials at the General Services Administration and U.S. Departments of Education and of Health and Human Services wrote to Columbia’s interim president and board co-chairs on Thursday stating that “U.S. taxpayers invest enormously in U.S. colleges and universities, including Columbia University, and it is the responsibility of the federal government to ensure that all recipients are responsible stewards of federal funds.”
“Columbia University, however, has fundamentally failed to protect American students and faculty from antisemitic violence and harassment in addition to other alleged violations of Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” the U.S. officials stated.
The letter listed nine items the officials said were collectively “a precondition for formal negotiations regarding Columbia University’s continued financial relationship with the United States government.” The Trump administration gave the university until March 20 to demonstrate compliance with the nine items.
Among the requirements from the federal government was that “meaningful discipline means expulsion or multi-year suspension,” which is what Columbia said that it did on Thursday.
The Free Press reported that “Columbia must have seen the letter coming,” as “an hour before it was sent, the Columbia University Judicial Board announced plans to suspend students involved in the break-in and occupation of Hamilton Hall last spring.”
The government also told the school that it must “begin the process of placing the Middle East, South Asian and African Studies department under academic receivership for a minimum of five years” and that Columbia “must provide a full plan, with date certain deliverables, by the March 20, 2025, deadline.”
