From the NY Times: One year ago, the Trump administration froze $400 million in federal research funding for Columbia University because of what the White House called an antisemitism and harassment problem on its campus. The move sent shock waves through higher education, as Columbia became the first major target of a Trump campaign to bring elite universities to heel. Columbia decided to negotiate, reaching a preliminary agreement with the White House on March 21 and then a final deal in July.
The atmosphere at Columbia is quite different from what it was in March 2025, in part because of these agreements. The leadership has also changed. A year ago, Dr. Katrina Armstrong was the interim president, but she was replaced by Claire Shipman, who is the acting president. Another change is imminent: Jennifer Mnookin, the chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was chosen in January to lead Columbia and will start in July. But did Columbia follow through on all of its pledges? One year on, where does Columbia stand?
...In its March 2025 letter, the Trump administration demanded a mask ban for protesters, comprehensive rules for demonstrations to prevent them from being disruptive, and strict punishment — meaning expulsion or multiyear suspensions — for the students who had participated in pro-Palestinian encampments or occupied a campus building in April 2024. Columbia agreed, with some modifications, to these conditions. But not everything has worked out as planned. Columbia overhauled student discipline by moving the panel that oversees rules infractions from the jurisdiction of the 111-member university senate, which is led by faculty members, to the provost’s office. Students no longer serve on the judicial panels. Columbia administrators also took control of establishing protest rules, removing the senate’s role. The Trump administration, and other critics, believed the senate was insufficiently committed to cracking down on rule violations by demonstrators.
...While Columbia did not ban masks at demonstrations, it did agree to punish masked student protesters who break rules and refused to identify themselves when asked. That happened during the Butler Library protest, when demonstrators who did not show identification were held in a room and arrested...
...A class called History of Modern Israel, taught by Avi Shilon, a visiting professor from Israel, was disrupted in January 2025 by masked pro-Palestinian demonstrators, who accused the class of whitewashing Israeli actions and handed out fliers that said “Crush Zionism.” Professor Shilon said that he had expected at least some disruption at a symposium he helped to organize nine months later, titled “The State of Zionism after October 7,” which included scholars from Israel, the United States and Europe. Instead, he said by email this week from Tel Aviv, the symposium was constructive and well-attended. Columbia provided security, but it wasn’t needed...
...The Trump administration demanded that Columbia’s Middle East, South Asian and African Studies Department be placed under academic receivership for five years, an extreme step that would remove its independence. From the start, Columbia did not assent, viewing the order as a threat to academic freedom, one of its red lines. In its March 2025 agreement, Columbia pledged only to review the department, and to suggest new programs and teaching positions. It then appointed a new senior vice provost, Miguel Urquiola, who in turn selected a committee of experts — including a scholar from the Middle East studies department — to recommend reforms. Those recommendations, issued in February, focused on hiring more professors in the social sciences with expertise in the Middle East. Timothy Mitchell, the Middle East studies professor who served on the committee, said that “nothing has been done to curtail the academic independence of the department.” ...
As part of its pledge to punish student groups for violating its rules, Columbia adopted a “zero tolerance policy” toward organizations “that promote violence or encourage disruptions of our academic mission.” The primary target was Columbia University Apartheid Divest, or CUAD, the coalition behind the 2024 encampments... CUAD now has no link to the university...
Columbia agreed in July to consider the International Holocaust Remembrance definition of antisemitism in its disciplinary system, a step that the Trump administration had demanded... Columbia officials disagree on whether this rule chills academic discourse. None of its anti-discrimination policies may be construed to “abridge academic freedom and inquiry or principles of free speech, or the university’s educational mission,” the university wrote in an August statement...
Full story at https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/21/nyregion/one-year-after-trumps-400-million-ultimatum-a-different-columbia.html.
