Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday condemned Columbia College’s settlement with the Trump administration as “outrageous and embarrassing” and accused the college of giving in to the federal government’s strain marketing campaign in opposition to increased schooling.
“I am deeply disappointed by reports of Columbia University’s outrageous and embarrassing $200 million capitulation to the Trump Administration’s repugnant extortion campaign,” Nadler, a Columbia alumnus whose district borders the college, stated in a press release on the social platform X.
“[M]y alma mater has allowed a once highly-respected institution to succumb to the Trump Administration’s coercive and exploitative tactics,” Nadler added. “Columbia has effectively waived the white flag of surrender in its battle at the heart of the Trump Administration’s war on higher education and academic freedom.”
The Trump administration and Columbia College on Monday introduced a settlement, whereby the Ivy League establishment agreed to pay $221 million to revive the greater than $400 million in federal funding that was minimize off by the administration.
In reducing off Columbia’s funding, the Trump administration initially cited alleged inaction on antisemitism, although Schooling Secretary Linda McMahon pointed to extra ideological motives.
“This is a monumental victory for conservatives who wanted to do things on these elite campuses for a long time because we had such far left-leaning professors,” McMahon stated on Fox Enterprise Community.
The college, which noticed a few of the nation’s most energetic pro-Palestinian campus demonstrations amid the conflict in Gaza, didn’t need to admit to wrongdoing as a part of the deal.
Nadler careworn the necessity for Columbia to do extra to guard Jewish college students on campus, however he stated the newest settlement would do nothing to assist these college students.
“While Columbia needs to do a better job at protecting its students against antisemitism on campus, this disgraceful and humiliating action will not, in anyway, improve the situation on campus for Jewish students,” Nadler stated.
“Columbia’s students, faculty, staff, and larger community deserve better than this cowardly decision,” he added.
