Columbia agrees to pay $200 million fine to settle Trump admin dispute

Columbia University agreed Wednesday to pay a $200 million fine to resolve a Trump administration investigation "into alleged violations of federal anti-discrimination laws," the college announced.Why it matters: The agreement will see Columbia's federal funding restored.The administration had pulled about $400 million in federal grants and contracts from the university in March, citing the school's alleged "continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students."The agreement also calls for the college to pay an additional $21 million to settle investigations brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.The latest: President Trump said on Wednesday night that Columbia had "committed to ending their ridiculous DEI policies, admitting students based ONLY on MERIT, and protecting the Civil Liberties of their students on campus" as he thanked the college for making the agreement."Numerous other Higher Education Institutions that have hurt so many, and been so unfair and unjust, and have wrongly spent federal money, much of it from our government, are upcoming," Trump added.Of note: In a message to members of the Columbia community later Wednesday, Columbia University's acting president, Claire Shipman, noted that the university "has not admitted wrongdoing and does not agree with the government's conclusion that it violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act" in the settlement."We are not, however, denying the very serious and painful challenges our institution has faced with antisemitism," Shipman added."For these reasons, we took several important corrective steps in March, many of which are in this agreement, including a new provision for a liaison to the Jewish community, situated in University Life."State of play: Columbia was an epicenter of student protests sweeping U.S. college campuses last year over the Israel-Hamas war.Columbia announced sanctions ahead of the deal on Tuesday to dozens of students involved in a pro-Palestinian protest that included degree revocations, multi-year suspensions and expulsions.The college issued similar punishments to students involved in the occupation of a campus building last year.Zoom in: Under the agreement, "a vast majority" of the federal grants that were terminated or paused in March "will be reinstated and Columbia's access to billions of dollars in current and future grants will be restored," per a post on the school's site."Importantly, it safeguards our independence, a critical condition for academic excellence and scholarly exploration, work that is vital to the public interest," Shipman said in a statement.What they're saying: Education Secretary Linda McMahon in an emailed statement called the Trump administration's deal with Columbia "a seismic shift in our nation's fight to hold institutions that accept American taxpayer dollars accountable for antisemitic discrimination and harassment."McMahon said thanks to Trump's "firm leadership," Columbia had reached the agreement that also includes making "structural changes to their Faculty Senate" and disciplining "student offenders for severe disruptions of campus operations."Columbia has also agreed to "eliminate race preferences from their hiring and admissions practices, and end DEI programs that distribute benefits and advantages based on race," per McMahon.Go deeper: Columbia punishes students involved in pro-Palestinian protestEditor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.Axios' Sareen Habeshian contributed reporting.

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