Columbia University's Capitulation To Trump Endangers Students

 As Columbia pursues a second investigation into a May library protest, the university adopts a sweeping definition of antisemitism that includes criticism of Israel.

By  Eric Santomauro-Stenzel, Prism

“Love. Cherish. Defend it,” reads the inscription at the base of a flagpole at Columbia University. The school’s sweeping agreement with the federal government last week makes many university affiliates wonder: What’s left to defend?

Before the deal was signed and announced, a series of actions from Columbia primed school community members to expect major policy and program changes. On July 15, Acting President Claire Shipman announced that the Upper Manhattan university is adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism that conflates criticisms of Israel with antisemitism. Columbia also announced its partnering with several pro-Israel organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), to run trainings and programming on antisemitism. On July 22, the conservative publication The New York Post broke the news that the university would suspend—and in some cases, expel—over 70 students who allegedly participated in a May 7 protest at Butler Library, which they dubbed the “Basel al-Araj Popular University,” for violating conduct rules.

Then came a July 23 agreement between Columbia and the Trump administration that fundamentally reshapes the institution, mandating everything from ideological tests in admissions policies to “all-female” housing and locker room options, likely intended to restrict spaces previously accessible to trans women. These changes will be monitored by a paid team reporting to a mutually agreed “Resolution Monitor.” The university also agreed to pay out $200 million to the federal government and create a $21 million fund to pay out protected-class employees who are alleging the university discriminated against them.

After nearly two years of media and political frenzy regarding purported widespread antisemitism on campus—the subject of federal investigations the deal with the government now brings to an end—the word “antisemitism” appears only once in the agreement.

But Columbia isn’t done cracking down on its dissidents. The university’s Office of Institutional Equity (OIE) is now pursuing another investigation into the same library protest for alleged “discriminatory harassment,” Prism has confirmed.

A notice sent by OIE to numerous students alleged to have participated, and obtained by Prism, includes among its allegations the use of phrases such as “Free Palestine” and “Land Back Now” during the protest, alleging the “totality of circumstances” may have prevented students from accessing education on the basis of their actual or perceived membership in a protected class. OIE sanctions could include suspensions and expulsions, according to the school’s anti-discrimination and discriminatory harassment policy.