Columbia University to change policies under Trump pressure

The US Ivy League school, Columbia University, agreed on Friday to implement an array of controversial policy changes, which includes the overhaul of the university's rules for protest and conducting a review of its Middle Eastern studies department.

The host of changes has been described as a crackdown on student protest and academic independence.

Columbia University agrees to ban face masks on campus

The university said it would place its Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies Department under "academic receivership for a minimum of five years," as demanded by President Donald Trump's administration.

Receivership means that someone from outside the department is appointed to take over running it. It is a rare step for universities and unprecedented as a demand from the US government.

The university also said it would forbid protests inside academic buildings and the use of face masks on campus "for the purpose of concealing one's identity," with an exception being made for masks worn for health reasons.

Further White House demands included the adoption of a new definition of antisemitism, abolishing its current process for disciplining students and coming up with a plan to "reform undergraduate admissions, international recruiting and graduate admission practices."

Columbia said it had agreed to fulfill many of the officials' demands.

Why did Columbia University agree to Trump's demands?

The changes came one week after the Trump administration said that for the university to continue receiving federal funding, worth some $400 million (€367 million), it should implement those, and other, changes, also threatening to cut more.

The White House said the reason for the cuts is the university's handling of protests against Israel's war in Gaza, protests labeled by the White House as antisemitic.

The Trump administration's ultimatum has been widely condemned as an attack on academic freedom.

According to a letter sent by interim president Katrina Armstrong, the university would appoint a senior vice provost to conduct a review of its regional studies programs, "starting immediately with the Middle East," she wrote.

The move was met with condemnation as well as warnings that the threats against US academic institutions would increase.

"Columbia's capitulation endangers academic freedom and campus expression nationwide," Donna Lieberman, the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement.

Why is Trump targeting pro-Palestinian protesters?

In recent weeks, Trump has taken aim at what he says are antisemitic and "anti-American" university pro-Palestinian protests over Israel's war against Hamas. 

A spokesperson for the pro-Palestinian demonstrations, Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, was arrested on March 8 by agents from the federal Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The White House has accused Khalil of distributing "pro-Hamas propaganda" and is looking to deport him.

The Syrian-born Algerian citizen — who is a legal US resident and is married to a US citizen — appeared at a brief scheduling hearing on Friday in immigration court at a remote detention center in Louisiana.

Khalil's lawyers, who appeared via video link, requested more time to review and prepare for the case. The judge set the next hearing for April 8.

His attorneys are also challenging his detention and potential deportation in the federal court system. Khalil said this week that his "unjust detention is indicative of [...] anti-Palestinian racism" in the US.

Edited by: Alex Berry