Columbia College has introduced a brand new masks ban, the hiring of particular officers and different new insurance policies, a few of that are according to the Trump administration’s demands.
Thursday marked the deadline that the Trump administration gave Columbia to adjust to its checklist of calls for earlier than even discussing the $400 million in funding that the federal government pulled on account of what it referred to as the varsity’s failure to guard college students from antisemitism.
“Our response to the federal government companies outlines the substantive work we have been doing over the past tutorial yr to advance our mission, guarantee uninterrupted tutorial actions, and make each scholar, college, and workers member protected and welcome on our campus,” Interim President Katrina Armstrong wrote in an e mail to college students Friday.
Face masks banned, officers introduced
One of the new policies is a ban on face masks or coverings meant to hide a person’s identification. Nonetheless, the coverage says, “Face masks or face coverings are at all times allowed for non secular or medical causes.”
Moreover, anybody taking part in a protest or demonstration on campus should current their college ID if requested by a college delegate or public security officer.
The varsity can also be hiring 36 new particular officers who can have the power to take away folks from campus or arrest them, if wanted.
“These people are close to completion of their coaching and credentialing underneath New York regulation to work on our campus,” the coverage says partially. “Whereas we prepare and credential our inside safety pressure, we are going to proceed to depend on our relationship with the NYPD to supply extra safety help when wanted.”
There are additionally modifications to the disciplinary course of, together with shifting the college judicial board underneath the purview of the president’s workplace. There’s additionally a brand new Workplace of Institutional Fairness with 57 fulltime workers to analyze discrimination complaints.
Educational and admission insurance policies underneath scrutiny
The college can even appoint a brand new senior vice provost to assessment its instructional packages referring to Center Jap research. Armstrong says the assessment will work to make sure instructional choices are complete and balanced.
Columbia can also be going to assessment its admission procedures and make suggestions on how to make sure unbiased admission processes.
The interim president says the workplace will undertake a place of institutional neutrality and can set up an institution-wide coverage implementing that stance.
College students react to new insurance policies
It is unclear if the Trump administration will now reinstate that $400 million in federal grants and funding.
Although Columbia desires the cash again, some college students are asking, at what value?
“It is by no means the place of the federal government to actually do these items,” scholar Yousif Elhaj stated.
“I feel it is sort of actually disgraceful, to be fairly sincere,” scholar Landon Pottebaum stated. “As a result of Columbia has such a protracted fame, lengthy historical past of being this protest faculty and sort of not wavering within the face of federal motion and sort of letting the scholars act on their very own, so I feel that is simply an act of cowardice, fairly actually.”
In its letter, the Division of Schooling had stated compliance with their calls for was a prerequisite to discussing the varsity’s monetary relationship with the federal authorities.
