US education chief says Columbia U. could restore funding after changes promised
Linda McMahon says interim university president assured her she wants to stamp out ‘discrimination of any kind,’ address ‘systemic issues’ related to campus antisemitism
NEW YORK — US Education Secretary Linda McMahon said Columbia University is “on the right track” toward recovering federal funding after the elite New York City university agreed to implement a host of policy changes demanded by the Trump administration following pro-Palestinian protests on campus.
Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday, McMahon described “great conversations” with Columbia’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong.
“She said she knew that this was her responsibility to make sure that children on her campus were safe,” McMahon said. “She wanted to make sure there was no discrimination of any kind. She wanted to address any systemic issues that were identified relative to the antisemitism on campus.”
Armstrong announced Friday that the university would put its Middle East studies department under new supervision and overhaul its rules for protests and student discipline. It also agreed to adopt a new definition of antisemitism and expand “intellectual diversity” by staffing up its Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies, according to an outline posted on its website.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration pulled $400 million in research grants and other funding over how the university handled antisemitism amid protests against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza as it battled Hamas in a war started by the Palestinian terror group.
In order to consider restoring those funds and billions more in future grants, federal officials demanded nine separate changes to the university’s academic and security policies.
Armstrong’s decision acceding to the administration’s demands drew condemnation from some faculty and free speech groups, who accused the university of caving to US President Donald Trump’s largely unprecedented intrusion on academic freedom.
Asked whether the university had done enough to secure its funding, McMahon said: “We are on the right track now to make sure the final negotiations to unfreeze that money will be in place.”
The Trump administration’s crackdown on Columbia University, where a massive anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protest movement began with a tent encampment last spring, has thrust the campus into crisis and sparked fears of similar actions at colleges across the country.
Protesters, some of them Jewish, say it’s not antisemitic or anti-American to criticize Israeli military actions and advocate for Palestinian human rights and territorial claims.
However, Jewish students and others have said the demonstrations did not just criticize Israel’s government but launched into rhetoric and behavior that made Jews feel unwelcome or outright unsafe on the Ivy League campus. A Columbia task force on antisemitism found “serious and pervasive” problems at the university.
The demonstrations, which frequently included open endorsements of violence and support for terror groups, resulted in waves of arrests as well as some suspensions and expulsions, which many pro-Palestinian groups have condemned as an attack on free speech.
The Trump administration has warned at least 60 other universities of possible action over alleged failure to comply with federal civil rights laws related to antisemitism, which has spiked since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, terror onslaught in Israel and subsequent war in Gaza.
Federal immigration officials on March 8 arrested Mahmoud Khalil, an activist who served as a spokesperson and negotiator for anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian demonstrators last year. Khalil, a legal permanent resident, is challenging his detention and potential deportation in court, arguing that he broke no laws.
The case has drawn attention as a test of free speech rights, with supporters of Khalil saying he was targeted for publicly disagreeing with US policy on Israel and its military actions in Gaza. Khalil has called himself a political prisoner.
The US alleges Khalil’s presence or activities in the country would have serious foreign policy consequences.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has asserted that Khalil organized disruptive protests that harassed Jewish students and “distributed pro-Hamas propaganda.” Hamas is designated by the US as a terrorist organization, but Khalil’s lawyers argue that his actions were protected under the First Amendment.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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