Columbia tries to walk back agreement with Trump admin in private faculty meetings

After the Trump administration came to an agreement with Columbia University on Friday, the school’s interim president Katrina Armstrong met with faculty over the weekend to address their concerns and assure the staff of Columbia’s enduring academic independence.

In meetings with around 75 faculty members, Armstrong and school leadership said six federal agencies are investigating the school and may pull all taxpayer funded support from Columbia, according to meeting transcripts obtained by the Wall Street Journal. This comes after the Trump administration slashed $400 million in federal grants to the New York-based university over the school’s handling of anti-Israel protests and alleged problem of antisemitism.

Though the school agreed with the Trump administration’s demands to ban masks on campus, hired additional campus police officers and increased its disciplinary office staff, meeting transcripts obtained by the WSJ show private faculty resistance to these public declarations.

In these faculty meetings, Armstrong downplayed agreed-upon changes, according to the WSJ. While Columbia had agreed to a ban on masks that conceal protestor’s identity, Armstrong told faculty that there wasn’t really a ban on masks.

A statement from the Trump administration stated that the university agreed to “enforcing a strict anti-masking policy that includes appropriate enforcement mechanisms for violations, including removal from campus or detention for trespassing,” on Monday.

“The provost office is not going to tell anybody what to teach, ever,” Provost Angela Olinto said, according to a transcript.

Several other Columbia professors and faculty members gathered on campus Monday to air their concerns. “Capitulating to demands will not save us,” said Anya Schiffrin, a senior lecturer at the university’s School of International and Public Affairs. “I’m really worried about academic freedom.”

One professor said that Trump’s crackdown on Columbia was not only a threat to the school, but “the biggest crisis since the founding of the republic,” according to a transcript reviewed by WSJ. The professor added that he was confused as to why Armstrong and university leadership had not released a collective statement, though Armstrong said she was “trying very hard,” to do so, according to the WSJ.

“The ability of the federal administration to leverage other forms of federal funding in an immediate fashion is really potentially devastating to our students in particular,” Armstrong said, according to the WSJ. “I think it is a really critical risk for us to understand.”

Columbia receives more than $1 billion a year in taxpayer dollars, Armstrong continued. The school’s approximately $15 billion endowment is dedicated to specific programs by donor designation and Columbia is now considering what to prioritize assuming if all federal funds were cut, according to a transcript.

“Interim President Armstrong has been clear that she wants to constructively engage with our regulators. She is fully committed to the actions announced on Friday to combat antisemitism and all forms of discrimination which have no place in our community,” a Columbia spokesperson told the WSJ.

Columbia University, Provost Angela Olinto and Anya Schiffrin did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment in time for publication.

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