In yet another win against far-left excess in higher education, Columbia University agreed to a massive $221 million settlement with the Trump administration last week after spending years promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and allowing antisemitic protests unabated on campus.
In March, the Trump administration announced the cancellation of $400 million in federal funding to Columbia University for failing to protect Jewish students amid aggressive antisemitic demonstrations following the terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. At the time, Education Secretary Linda McMahon explained that Jewish students at the university “have faced relentless violence, intimidation, and anti-Semitic harassment” and were ignored by those in charge of the school.
The administration provided Columbia with a list of demands in order to receive public funding again. These demands included banning protesters from wearing masks, holding disruptive students and those who make threats accountable, empowering law enforcement, placing the Middle East, South Asian, and African Studies department under academic receivership, and eliminating DEI-based hiring and admissions policies.
Columbia University caved and will now pay the Trump administration $221 million in a settlement to restore federal funding. Of the total, $200 million will be paid to the federal government over the course of three years. The additional $21 million will be “to settle investigations involving the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,” according to Columbia Acting President Claire Shipman.
McMahon praised President Trump for his leadership in this historic victory against a notably left-wing institution.
“Columbia’s reforms are a roadmap for elite universities that wish to regain the confidence of the American public by renewing their commitment to truth-seeking, merit, and civil debate,” McMahon said. “I believe they will ripple across the higher education sector and change the course of campus culture for years to come.”
In a statement, Columbia explained that the agreement with the Trump administration includes a “broader commitment to combating antisemitism,” including the adoption of a definition of antisemitism and establishing a “jointly selected independent monitor who will assess the implementation of the resolution.” Shipman explained that the agreement was “carefully crafted to protect the values that define us and allow our essential research partnership with the federal government to get back on track.”
While this is a significant victory for the Trump administration, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) has also targeted other Ivy League institutions as well. By April, the Trump administration had already withheld nearly $3 billion from colleges, including $400 million from Columbia University, $1 billion from Cornell University, $510 million from Brown University, $210 million from Princeton University, and $790 million from Northwestern University.
Most of these funding freezes came as a result of schools promoting DEI policies that violate federal anti-discrimination laws. In March, the DOE also announced investigations into 60 universities for allowing antisemitism. The administration intends for these schools to adopt policies to protect students from antisemitic protests and violence and end their DEI programs.
Harvard University and the administration are currently battling in court over the school losing federal funding. However, apparently seeing the writing on the wall, Harvard leadership has already started taking corrective action. The university quietly caved and dismantled undergraduate DEI offices earlier this month. Other colleges have done the same.
Several departments at Northwestern University have also removed DEI programs from their websites. Cornell University removed references to affirmative action from the school’s website with an exception for veterans. Additional colleges that have shut down their DEI departments include the University of Virginia, Ohio State University, and the University of Cincinnati.
The Trump administration’s ability to rein in woke universities has been a whole-of-government-approach, with several agencies such as Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Defense (DOD) eliminating grants to colleges that promote DEI policies. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced significant cuts in April to several schools.
“In support of the president’s priorities to stop federal funding for academic institutions that tolerate antisemitism and support divisive DEI programs, this week DOD is also pausing over $500 million in funding to Northwestern University and Cornell University,” Hegseth announced. “And that’s on top of the $70 million in funding we’ve already paused at Columbia, Penn, Brown, and Princeton over the last few weeks, as if any of these institutions need more government money at all.”
The administration is also ensuring that academic institutions no longer allow biological men to compete in women’s sports from K-12 schools to the university level. On February 5, Trump signed an executive order that restricted schools from receiving federal funds if they continued to allow men in women’s sports. A majority of states noticed and quickly corrected course.
As AMAC Newsline previously reported, parental rights organization Defending Education published a report this month revealing that 32 states are now compliant with the Trump administration’s interpretation of Title IX to prohibit biological males from competing on women’s sports teams.
The University of Pennsylvania even entered into an agreement with the Trump administration to follow the federal government’s Title IX guidance moving forward. This includes ensuring males no longer compete in women’s sports, restoring all records and titles to females that were stolen by male athletes, and apologizing to female competitors who were impacted.
Only a minority of states – 18 total – still allow men to compete in women’s athletics, including Maine, California, and Oregon. In April, the administration sued Maine to strip the state of federal K-12 funding for disregarding Title IX. This was followed by the administration suing California on July 9 and launching an investigation into Oregon on July 25 for similar violations.
On the campaign trail last year, Trump promised to eradicate far-left gender ideology from public education and hold progressive university administrators and faculty accountable for substituting their own political agenda in place of legitimate academic endeavors. On both counts, the 45th and 47th President has already been wildly successful.
Alan Jamison is the pen name of a political writer with extensive experience writing for several notable politicians and news outlets.
Great News! Finally these spoiled colleges and universities led by the ultra rich ivy league “know it all’ pompous fools who think that they are above obeying Federal Law get punished by having to obey Constitutional authority! Yay for President Trump!
Foreign influences have contaminated American universities too long, along with the communistic ideas and attitudes of the anti-Americans who infest the hallowed halls. ‘Bout time to rid the halls of the trash.
Let the “learning” institutions do whatever they desire at their own expense their own financing, private donors whatever , cut government and taxpayer out of the equation and let them fend for themselves, while at it ,it’s time to look at all the foreign “students” and their governments financial involvement . Clean up time.
WE THE PEOPLE put him in office to fix s. he’s doing what WE sent him there to do.
It is refreshing to see the Libtards backpedaling on their Woke ideologies (at least at the institutional level). Hopefully, these efforts will “correct” the dysfunctional and un-American thinking of many of the Libtard faculty denizens of these institutions. Only time will tell the full extent of the success of President Trump’s efforts, but I am less than hopeful these professors will really change their tune. Many professors will still continue to operate below the radar spreading their dysfunctional ideas and ideologies to their students. America is NOT out of the woods on this issue by any means, but at least this is a start.
First mistake made, withhold All Federal funding for the same amount of time infractions existed. Second, maniditory all existing board members, teaching staff and or faculty be fired and not allowed employment in any teaching institution. If non-compliance pull accreditation for a period of not less than 2years. I know, to many this sound extreme but, is it really, we now have how many people that are illiterate, have no common sense and have been indoctanted into anti-american thinking. The cost alone for having to live, support, or rebuild this country for their actions will cost more than the punishment to the institutions that created the problem.
Thank you, President Trump for promises KEPT!!
I have NEVER thought we the taxpayers should have to pay any Higher Education
Facilities. They charge the students (and parents) a significant amount of money plus interest in most cases. Although, paying taxes to community schools, having no children, on top of property taxes, I felt that was fine. Hopefully ensuring higher education in the neighborhood. It was significant amount over property taxes.
bury this communist illegal discrimination deep.