Columbia University bans face masks at protests
Changes are a bid to regain federal funding cut to penalise the school for its Palestinian protests
Columbia University is banning the use of face masks by protesters and hiring dozens of police officers as it seeks to win back federal funding cut by the Trump administration to penalise the school for its pro-Palestinian protests.
Columbia also says it will review its admissions practices, citing “a recent downturn in both Jewish and African American enrollment.” The school had not previously disclosed the downturn, which follows both high-profile anti-Israel protests on campus and a Supreme Court ruling barring universities from weighing race in admissions decisions.
A ban on face masks and changes to admissions had been among the demands laid out last week by the Trump administration for the school to regain $400 million in federal grants, mostly for science research, cut over what it said were threats against Jewish students on Columbia’s campus.
The administration had also demanded that Columbia’s Middle East, South Asian and African Studies department be put under special supervision for at least five years. Columbia announced that it was hiring a new provost to oversee the department and several others, including the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies, that teach about the Middle East.
The moves reflect broad concessions to the Trump administration, even as Interim President Katrina Armstrong said in a letter to community members that academic freedom remained a top value for the university.
“The way Columbia and Columbians have been portrayed is hard to reckon with,” she wrote in announcing the changes. “We have challenges, yes, but they do not define us. We are a community of scholars who have deep respect for each other and our mission. We teach the brightest, most creative students in the world, and we care deeply for each and every one of them. I have every faith in our ability to overcome the greatest of challenges. We stand resilient and brilliant.”
Armstrong added, “At all times, we are guided by our values, putting academic freedom, free expression, open inquiry, and respect for all at the fore of every decision we make.”
A website that accompanied Armstrong’s note laid out all of the changes underway at the school, including the shakeup of the academic departments and the mask ban, which includes exemptions for masks worn for religious and medical reasons. The university also says it has almost finished training 36 “special officers” who will have the right to arrest students on campus.
It is rare for the federal government to intervene in the internal operations of a private university. But the Trump administration said it was compelled to act because the university had failed to protect students from “antisemitic violence and harassment” during protests against the Israel-Hamas war that began on Oct. 7, 2023. Columbia was the first school to see students form a pro-Palestinian encampment in the spring of 2024, launching a movement that reached dozens of colleges across the United States.
The administration has also conducted multiple law enforcement actions at the school, arresting Palestinian protester Mahmoud Khalil earlier this month.
Critics of the Trump administration’s intervention at Columbia, including thousands of Jewish academics who signed a protest letter this week, say the crackdown there and at other universities reflects an inappropriate incursion on academic freedom and uses fears of antisemitism to justify repression.
The administration’s supporters, who include some pro-Israel students, meanwhile say the moves are necessary to improve the climate for Jewish students.
“This is a huge win for Jewish safety at Columbia,” tweeted Eliana Goldin, who is enrolled in Columbia’s joint program with the Jewish Theological Seminary and a leader in the campus Zionist group Aryeh, on Friday. “I’m looking forward to seeing how the university improves these coming weeks.”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
