Sharp words from civil liberties advocate as Columbia Univeristy agrees to some Trump demands in attempt to restore funding

Record ID: 1986820

  • Title: Sharp words from civil liberties advocate as Columbia Univeristy agrees to some Trump demands in attempt to restore funding
  • Date: 22nd March 2025
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (MARCH 22, 2025) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) DONNA LIEBERMAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE NEW YORK CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION, SAYING: "The government can put restrictions on grants. But what it can't do is impose a free speech ban. It can't censor the speech of grantees, unrelated to the grant. It can't censor the free speech of whole univer
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Columbia University Gaza Israel Trump student protests
  • Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
  • City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
  • Country: US
  • Topics: Fundamental Rights/Civil Liberties,North America,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA009091422032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Columbia University agreed to some changes demanded by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration before it can negotiate to regain federal funding that was pulled this month over allegations the school tolerated antisemitism on campus.
    The Ivy League university in New York City acquiesced to several demands in a 4,000-word message from its interim president released on Friday. It laid out plans to reform its disciplinary process, hire security officers with arrest powers and appoint a new official with a broad remit to review departments that offer courses on the Middle East.
    Columbia's dramatic concessions to the government's extraordinary demands, which stem from protests that convulsed the Manhattan campus over the Israel-Gaza war, immediately prompted criticism. The outcome could have broad ramifications as the Trump administration has warned at least 60 other universities of similar action.
    "What happened here is an unfortunate example of the administration of Columbia failing to exercise the rights that they have under the law," Donna Lieberman, Executive Director of the New York Civil Liberties Union told Reuters TV.
    What Columbia would do with its Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies department was among the biggest questions facing the university as it confronted the cancellation, called unconstitutional by legal and civil groups, of hundreds of millions of dollars in government grants and contracts. The Trump administration had told the school to place the department under academic receivership for at least five years, taking control away from its faculty.
    Academic receivership is a rare step taken by a university's administrators to fix a dysfunctional department by appointing a professor or administrator outside the department to take over.
    Columbia did not refer to receivership in Friday's message. The university said it would appoint a new senior administrator to review leadership and to ensure programs are balanced at MESAAS, the Middle East Institute, the Center for Palestine Studies, the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies and other departments with Middle East programs, along with Columbia's satellite hubs in Tel Aviv and Amman.
    The White House did not respond to Columbia's memo on Friday. The Trump administration said its demands, laid out in a letter to Armstrong eight days ago, were a precondition before Columbia could enter "formal negotiations" with the government to have federal funding.
    Columbia's response is being watched by other universities that the administration has targeted as it advances its policy objectives in areas ranging from campus protests to transgender sports and diversity initiatives.
    Private companies, law firms and other organizations have also faced threatened cuts in government funding and business unless they agree to adhere more closely to Trump's priorities. Powerful Wall Street law firm Paul Weiss came under heavy criticism on Friday over a deal it struck with the White House to escape an executive order imperiling its business.
    Columbia has come under particular scrutiny for the pro-Palestinian student protest movement that roiled its campus last year, when its lawns filled with tent encampments and noisy rallies against the U.S. government's support of Israel.
    Columbia said it had already sought to hire peace officers with arrest powers before the Trump administration's demand last week, saying 36 new officers had nearly completed the lengthy training and certification process under New York law.
    The university said no one was allowed to wear face masks on campus if they were doing so intending to break rules or laws. The ban does not apply to face masks worn for medical or religious purposes, and the university did not say it was adopting the Trump administration's demand that Columbia ID be worn visibly on clothing.
    The sudden shutdown of millions of dollars in federal funding to Columbia this month was already disrupting medical and scientific research at the school, researchers said.
    Canceled projects included the development of an AI-based tool that helps nurses detect the deterioration of a patient's health in hospital and research on uterine fibroids, non-cancerous tumors that can cause pain and affect women's fertility.
    (Production: Deborah Lutterbeck)
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