The Wall Street Journal reports that the Trump administration is planning to pursue a legal arrangement that would put the private Ivy League university – which has seen many protests and demonstrations against Israel and its response to the October 7, 2023, terrorist attack from Hamas – into a consent decree that could significantly escalate the pressure on the school as it battles for federal funding.
"Columbia has proved completely incompetent at securing its own campus for the safety of all its students," says Zachary Marschall of Campus Reform. "It has also failed at keeping antisemitic and anti-American agitators outside of its campus grounds who have also infiltrated protests and been part of occupations. So, between failing to keep Jewish students safe and failing to keep the entire community safe, there is cause and concern that Colombia is no longer a functioning institution."
Critics of the Trump administration have warned that the president has or will use a heavy-handed approach to issues like this, but Marschall says the winner of both the popular vote and the Electoral College is using a mechanism utilized by previous democratically elected presidents of the opposite party.
The aim is to put Americans first and to make sure that both the Columbia community and Manhattan community in Morningside Heights are safe.
"Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures," Marschall submits. "I think this is a proportional response to the problems we're seeing at Columbia."
A consent decree, which can last for years, would give a federal judge responsibility for ensuring Columbia changes its practices along lines laid out by the federal government. If such a decree is in place, Columbia would have to comply with it. If a judge determines the school is out of compliance, it could be held in contempt of court, punishable by penalties including fines.
