Columbia University is waving the white flag.
After a weeks-long standoff, the Ivy League institution submitted to President Donald Trump’s extensive demands after he revoked $400 million in federal funding from the school.
Columbia yielded to a long list of agreements, according to The Wall Street Journal. The school will ban face masks on campus, give dozens of “special” security officers the power to arrest and/or remove students from campus, and appoint a new senior vice provost to largely govern the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies and the Center for Palestine Studies.
The concession comes just weeks after a prominent, pro-Palestine campus activist was arrested by ICE officers. Mahmoud Khalil was detained for speaking out about the brutal war in Gaza, which several human rights organizations and the UN Special Committee compared to genocide. Khalil, 30, is a legal U.S. resident with no criminal record who was arrested on March 8 as part of Trump’s crackdown on “anti-American” campus protests.
Khalil was both a spokesperson and a negotiator who inspired fellow pro-Palestine protesters to stand in opposition to the Israeli government’s attacks, which began after Gaza’s militant group Hamas launched its own offensive in 2023.
Many of Columbia’s protesters are Jewish, and say it’s not antisemitic or anti-American to condemn Israel’s blight and advocate for Palestine’s human rights. The group made headlines last year after students established encampments on campus, broke into school buildings, and were seized in mass arrests of more than 100 individuals. It was the first time Columbia allowed police to suppress campus protests since anti-Vietnam War demonstrations in 1968.
Some Jewish students have said they don’t feel welcome on Columbia’s campus and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has claimed that Khalil harassed Jewish students and “distributed pro-Hamas propaganda.” Trump has long denounced the movement as being antisemitic, despite some pointing out hypocrisy for his close relationship with Elon Musk, who made a gesture during Trump’s inauguration that many likened to a Nazi salute.
Trump is attempting to deport Khalil under a rare statute that allows the government to deport a foreigner if that person’s presence or activities could have “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”
Trump slashed $400 million in federal funding from Columbia’s budget, giving him unprecedented power over the university. In a letter detailing the changes the school will make, interim president Katrina Armstrong wrote that the new senior vice provost will “conduct a thorough review of the portfolio of programs in regional areas across the University, starting immediately with the Middle East” in order to “ensure the educational offerings are comprehensive and balanced.”
The school’s definition of “antisemitism” will also be changed to include excluding Jewish people based on their attitudes toward Israel.
The school’s submission comes after various meetings between Trump’s task force on antisemitism and the university’s board of trustees and Armstrong.
Trump’s takedown of Columbia is part of a larger campaign to end liberal ideology in educational institutions, including by dismantling the U.S. Department of Education and withholding federal funds from universities that support transgender rights. On Wednesday, Trump axed $175 million in federal funding to his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, for allowing transgender women to compete in women’s sports.
Columbia ultimately agreed not only to comply with Trump’s demands, but to go above and beyond to remain nonpartisan. The school announced that it is adopting “institutional neutrality,” meaning it will stop taking official positions on most political issues. It also said it would launch programming for its hub in Tel Aviv this spring.
A senior administrator told The Wall Street Journal that the school considered legal options to counter Trump’s demands, but eventually realized the federal government would only continue to withhold critical funds in a never-ending power play. The school did say there was overlap between Trump’s orders and needed campus changes.
Other universities nationwide view Columbia’s apparent surrender as a cause for alarm. Nearly every college and university relies on government funding to stay afloat, especially so that students can access federal loans and grants to pay tuition costs. Across the country, many institutions worry that Trump will bully them into similar arrangements. Left-leaning universities fear that Trump’s offensives will sap them of the freedom to pursue innovation, empower students to express themselves, and fund nontraditional pursuits.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Columbia for comment.
