Columbia varsity agrees to policy changes under threat from US President

New York: Columbia University has committed to enact a number of policy changes in response to threats from the Trump administration, including revising its protest regulations and reviewing its Middle Eastern studies department immediately.

One week after the Trump administration ordered the Ivy League school to make these and other changes in order to continue receiving federal funding—an ultimatum that was widely criticised in academia as an attack on academic freedom—the changes were detailed in a letter sent by Katrina Armstrong, the interim president.

In her letter, Armstrong said the university would immediately appoint a senior vice provost to conduct a thorough review of the portfolio of its regional studies programs, “starting immediately with the Middle East.” Columbia will also bar protests inside academic buildings and the wearing of face masks on campus “for the purposes of concealing one's identity.” An exception would be made for people wearing them for health reasons.

The Trump administration pulled USD 400 million in research grants and other federal funding and had threatened to cut more, over the university's handling of protests against Israel's military campaign in Gaza. The White House has labelled the protests antisemitic, a label rejected by those who participated in the student-led demonstrations.

As a “precondition” for restoring funding, federal officials demanded that the university place its Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies Department under “academic receivership for a minimum of five years.” They also told the university to ban masks on campus, adopt a new definition of antisemitism, abolish its current process for disciplining students and deliver a plan to “reform undergraduate admissions, international recruiting, and graduate admissions practices.” Columbia said it had agreed to do many of those things, including adopting a definition of antisemitism.

With PTI inputs