Columbia University agrees to feds' demand for mask ban at protests and other conditions

Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News on Mar 21, 2025

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NEW YORK — Columbia University agreed Friday to the Trump administration’s demands to start formal negotiations over $400 million in federal funding revoked after federal officials said Jews were harassed on campus, according to a letter from the school to federal agencies.

Columbia agreed to implement a mask ban during protests, give dozens of campus security personnel the power of arrest, and appoint a top school official to oversee the university’s Middle Eastern studies department.

“Our response to the government agencies outlines the substantive work we’ve been doing over the last academic year to advance our mission, ensure uninterrupted academic activities, and make every student, faculty and staff member safe and welcome on our campus,” Interim President Katrina Armstrong wrote to faculty and students.

“At all times, we are guided by our values, putting academic freedom, free expression, open inquiry and respect for all at the fore of every decision we make.”

Columbia and the U.S. Department of Education did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The directives — particularly the added level of supervision of Middle Eastern studies — were criticized by faculty as placing Columbia’s academic independence in jeopardy.

The Columbia chapter of the American Association of University Professors previously condemned as overreach the federal government’s March 13 memo in which it outlined its demands, calling it a “ransom letter.”

Columbia’s compliance does not guarantee that federal funding will be restored, but is instead a “precondition for formal negotiations regarding Columbia University’s continued financial relationship with the United States government,” according to the Trump administration’s recent memo.

Another demand in the memo called for “meaningful discipline” for the campus protest activity of last year. The same day, Columbia moved to expel and suspend for multiple years students involved in last spring’s takeover of Hamilton Hall.

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