Moira Gleason writes for National Review Online about an Ivy League school’s costly capitulation.
Columbia University has agreed to pay more than $220 million to the federal government to restore federal research money that the Trump administration canceled over the Ivy League university’s failure to curb antisemitism on its campus.
Under the agreement, which settles more than half a dozen open civil rights investigations into the university, the school will pay $200 million in settlements to the federal government over three years. Columbia has also agreed to pay $21 million to settle additional investigations involving the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
“I recognize these are substantial settlements,” the university’s acting president, Claire Shipman, said in a statement Wednesday. “As acting president, together with our Board of Trustees, we had to look at all the facts. We have seen not only $400 million in federal grants frozen, but also the majority of our $1.3 billion a year in federal funding placed on hold. The prospect of that continuing indefinitely, along with the potential loss of top scientists, would jeopardize our status as a world-leading research institution.”
The Trump administration’s antisemitism task force pulled $400 million in federal funding in March following the New York university’s failure to condemn or punish harassment experienced by Jewish students. The university has not admitted to wrongdoing and denies the government’s conclusion that it violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, according to the press release.
“We are not, however, denying the very serious and painful challenges our institution has faced with antisemitism,” Shipman said. “For these reasons, we took several important corrective steps in March, many of which are in this agreement, including a new provision for a liaison to the Jewish Community, situated in University Life.”
Under the agreement, the school retains control over its academic and operational decisions but agrees to follow existing laws banning the consideration of race in admissions.
