Columbia University has agreed to settle an anti-discrimination investigation with the Trump administration by paying $200 million.
According to CBS News, the US President Donald Trump's government threatened to cut federal funding of the university after it allegedly failed to protect Jewish students.
The university’s Office of the President issued a statement on Wednesday, July 23, to announce the settlement with the government.
As part of the agreement, the university will pay $200 million to the government over three years. It will also pay an additional $21 million to settle an employment discrimination investigation with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
As per the statement, Columbia University does not accept any wrongdoing but agreed that Jewish students and faculty faced “unacceptable incidents.”
Acting University President Claire Shipman stated, “This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty. The settlement was carefully crafted to protect the values that define us and allow our essential research partnership with the federal government to get back on track.”
“Importantly, it safeguards our independence, a critical condition for academic excellence and scholarly exploration, work that is vital to the public interest,” he added.
The government will also restore the federal grant for research to the university as part of the agreement.
For the unversed, the Trump administration has been withholding a $400 million grant to Columbia University since early March, citing that the Ivy League research university failed to stop antisemitism on campus last year.
