The Trump administration has delivered an extraordinary ultimatum to Columbia University, threatening to permanently end federal funding to the school unless it cedes control of an international studies department and implements sweeping changes to other campus policies.
In a letter sent Thursday night, federal officials said the university must immediately place its Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies Department under “academic receivership for a minimum of five years.”
It must also ban masks on campus that are meant to conceal the wearer's identity "or intimidate others,” adopt a new definition of antisemitism and abolish its current process for administering discipline to students.
The letter described those changes and others as “preconditions” in order to begin "formal negotiations regarding Columbia University's continued financial relationship with the United States government."
“We expect your immediate compliance with these critical next steps,” officials from the Department of Education, General Services Administration and Department of Health and Human Services wrote in the letter.
A New York judge is deciding what's next for Mahmoud Khalil, who helped organize pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University in 2024. Protesters gathered outside federal court demanding his release. Khalil was taken to a detention center in Louisiana and will stay there for now, though his attorneys want him returned to New York. NBC New York's Erica Byfield reports.
The letter marked a significant escalation in the Trump administration's efforts to impose extensive changes on academic institutions. It comes as federal immigration officials have also targeted specific student protesters, including Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist who was arrested over the weekend for his role in Columbia University demonstrations against Israel.
In a notice to the student body Thursday, Columbia University officials said agents with the Department of Homeland Security searched two additional university residences with a warrant Thursday evening. No one was arrested or detained, according to the university’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong, who said she was “heartbroken” by the news.
“Columbia continues to make every effort to ensure that our campus, students, faculty, and staff are safe,” Armstrong said in a statement. “Columbia is committed to upholding the law, and we expect city, state, and federal agencies to do the same.”
The university did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on the Trump administration's demands.
