Overview

• Columbia agreed to pay a $200 million federal fine plus $21 million in civil-rights payouts to resolve investigations into campus antisemitism and protest unrest.
• The deal restores eligibility for hundreds of millions in frozen research grants and financial aid by terminating related federal investigations.
• Under the 22-page agreement, Columbia must eliminate race-based admissions programs, overhaul diversity initiatives, review its Middle East curriculum and appoint an antisemitism administrator under federal monitoring.
• New campus regulations ban face coverings and indoor protests, enforce the administration’s Title IX interpretation barring transgender athletes from women’s sports and require federal reporting of international student disciplinary actions.
• U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon called the settlement a roadmap for university oversight, while critics warn it threatens academic freedom.