The University of Columbia may agree to settle $ 200M disposal; Trump administration demands reforms – report

The Columbia University and the Trump administration are allegedly close to an agreement on Friday, which can pay around $ 200 million or more in compensation for alleged civil rights violations to the university. The deal reported by the New York Times noted the allegations that Columbia failed to save Jewish students from harassment.The agreement wants to restore about $ 400 million in federal research funding which was earlier canceled by the Trump administration. In turn, Colombia will resolve claims of violation of civilian rights and will agree to more transparency in areas such as entry and foreign donations.University officials are expected to meet the Representatives of the Trump administration at the White House next week to finalize the agreement.In April, earlier proposals included a legally binding agreement that would have placed the university under long -term federal supervision. However, current dialogues have not allegedly involved that requirement.In March, after the initial funding cuts, Colombia accepted several demands from the Trump administration. This included providing campus police authority to arrest students, protests restrict the use of masks, and to increase more control over their Middle Eastern Studies Department. Once fulfilling these previous conditions, further interactions about the restoration of research funding can continue.The decision to negotiate instead of challenging the administration in the court of Columbia was widely criticized as a capitulation within academia. In contrast, Harvard University chose to sue the government. Claire Shipman, acting president of Columbia, defended the university’s approach. In a letter to the university community in June, he said, “Following the law and trying to resolve the complaint is not a capitulation.”Meanwhile, Harvard University has also resumed talks with the Trump administration, which is about the return of billions of dollars in federal research funding.If finalized, Columbia will become the first university to reach a formal disposal with the Trump administration over the concerns related to antisementism, which led to the return of the Federal Research Fund.On 7 March, the Trump administration announced that it was canceling millions in federal grant to Colombia due to alleged harassment of Jewish students after the outbreak of the Israeli-Hamas war. Other institutions including Harvard, Cornell and Northwestern also faced similar punishment.Columbia’s research program was greatly influenced by cuts in funding. The National Institute of Health (NIH) leaves almost all research-related funding, including reimbursement for active grants. A research tracking group Grant Watch estimated that about $ 1.18 billion in NIH funding for Colombia was suspended or withdrawn. Other federal agencies including the National Science Foundation also drawn funding.