Trump administration officials are scheduled to meet with Columbia University leaders to finalize an agreement that would return the majority of the school’s federal funding, The Washington Free Beacon reported on Thursday.
The university announced this week that it would be implementing a series of reforms aimed at combating antisemitism on campus. Protests riled the university in May after it announced it would be laying off close to 180 employees due to the Trump administration pulling $400 million in federal funding over Columbia’s inability to deal with the anti-Israel sentiment plaguing the school.
The arrangement, which sources told the outlet is subject to review and approval by President Donald Trump, will have Columbia pay a $200 million fine and share their hiring and admission data with federal authorities. The pending deal is said to be less burdensome than the original list of demands the Trump administration gave Columbia earlier in the year.
Columbia has been ground zero in the current administration’s crackdown on what it perceives as flagrant antisemitism on college campuses. In March, pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was apprehended at his New York residence after the administration accused him of participating in the violent anti-Israel protests at Columbia last spring and distributing anti-Israel propaganda. His arrest sparked subsequent protests in April when students chained themselves to the gates of St. Paul’s Chapel on the university grounds.
Acting Columbia president Claire Shipman announced the school would follow the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism; partner with the Anti-Defamation League to create trainings on antisemitism; and appoint a coordinator to ensure compliance with Title VI and Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Shipman replaced Katrina Armstrong who resigned a little over six months into her role after the university agreed to some policy changes demanded by the Trump administration. Armstrong had replaced Minouche Shafik who resigned last summer over her inability to maintain order amid the nearly constant anti-Israel protests on campus.