The Trump administration wants a judge to enforce Columbia University’s antisemitism reforms to ensure they are carried out as promised, according to a report.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal writes that the administration is exploring the possibility of entering into a consent decree with the Ivy League school.
Such an arrangement — which the university would have to agree to enter — would give a federal judge oversight into whether Columbia holds up its end of the bargain it struck with the administration last month under threat of losing hundreds of millions in federal funding, the outlet writes.
If the judge rules the university is out of compliance, it could be held in contempt of court and subject to penalties including fines.
A Columbia spokesperson told The Post, “The university remains in active dialogue with the federal government to restore its critical research funding,” but did not directly address the report about the consent decree.
In March, Trump’s Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism — comprising the Department of Education, the General Services Administration and Health and Human Services — issued a series of demands the school must comply with or risk losing some $400 million in federal funding.
The nine demands included a ban on masks for protesters and crackdowns on anti-Israel protesters who break the law, including punishing those responsible for the violent takeover of Hamilton Hall in April 2024, during which dozens of masked anti-Israel rioters smashed their way into the academic building and barricaded themselves inside.
Just before the one-month deadline imposed by the task force expired, Columbia agreed to policy changes including new, stricter policies governing facial coverings and empowering campus cops to make arrests.
The school also agreed to install new leadership to review curricula for its Middle East, South Asian and African Studies department and Center for Palestine Studies, according to a memo from administrators.
However, days later the school’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong, was ousted by the prestigious school’s board of trustees after publicly agreeing to uphold the school’s mask ban but promising faculty she would not behind closed doors.
Consent decrees can last for years, and if the university decided to fight it in court, the Department of Justice would be required to prove it was warranted. However, the court battle could take years to see through, and Columbia could lose its federal funding in the meantime.
Sources told the Journal that the push for the consent decree came about because it felt Columbia was not acting in good faith, and unwilling to make meaningful changes to stop Jewish students from facing intimidation on campus at the hands of anti-Israel protesters.
An admissions consultant told The Post last month that Columbia’s “brand has been tarnished” in the wake of the upheaval on campus, pointing to 10 clients he helped gain acceptance into the elite school’s Class of ’29 — none of whom plan to attend.
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