‘Extortion’: Columbia University’s deal with White House met with mixed reactions

Some slammed the agreement with the Trump administration to reinstate $400m in federal funds while others praised it as an ‘excellent outcome’

Columbia University’s long anticipated deal with the Trump administration after months of negotiations has drawn both condemnation and praise from faculty, students, and alumni – a sign that the end of negotiations will hardly restore harmony on a campus profoundly divided since the beginning of Israel’s war in Gaza.

The deal will reinstate $400m in federal funds the administration cut from the university after it accused it of allowing antisemitism to fester on campus. But it will cost Columbia some $220m in legal settlements, as well as a host of new measures that critics warn significantly restrict the university’s independence and will further repress pro-Palestinian speech.

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Columbia announces deal to pay Trump administration more than $220m

Deal falls short of starkest measures, including consent decree and overhaul of university’s governance structure

Columbia University announced a much-anticipated deal with the Trump administration to pay more than $220m, an agreement meant to bring a resolution to the threat of massive funding cuts to the school, but certain to rankle critics given the extraordinary concessions made by the Ivy League university.

Under the agreement, the school will pay a $200m settlement over three years to the federal government, the university said. It will also pay $21m to settle investigations brought by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

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Mahmoud Khalil renews devotion to Palestinian freedom at New York rally

Activist condemns Columbia’s ‘shameful trustees’ but praises students’ courage after release from Ice detention

Mahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian rights activist, freed from Ice detention on Friday, returned to Columbia University on Sunday to renew his commitment to the cause of Palestinian freedom and opposition to both the university and the Trump administration.

Khalil arrived back in New York on Saturday after being released from more than 100 days in detention in Louisiana by a federal judge who ruled that punishing someone over a civil immigration matter was unconstitutional and ordered his immediate release on bail.

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Trump administration notches first big win in assault on higher education

Federal judge dismissed lawsuit brought by faculty groups over government cuts to Columbia University funding

The Trump administration scored its most significant legal victory in its sweeping effort to reshape American higher education when a federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit brought by faculty groups over the government’s cuts to Columbia University’s federal funding.

The lawsuit concerned the Trump administration’s cuts to $400m worth of federal funding to Columbia on the grounds it tolerated antisemitism during pro-Palestinian protests on campus. Columbia largely accepted the government’s terms for restoring funding – in an agreement widely panned as a capitulation of its own academic freedom – several days before the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) sued the Trump administration over the cuts.

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Mahmoud Khalil finally allowed to hold one-month-old son for the first time

Detained Palestinian activist granted contact by judge who blocked Trump administration’s efforts to separate family

Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate and detained Palestinian activist, was finally allowed to hold his infant son for the first time Thursday – one month after he was born – thanks to a federal judge who blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to keep the father and infant separated by a Plexiglass barrier.

The visit came before a scheduled immigration hearing for Khalil, a legal permanent resident who has been detained in a Louisiana jail since 8 March.

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Mohsen Mahdawi, released from Ice custody, graduates from Columbia

Palestinian activist, freed just over two weeks ago from federal detention, crosses graduation stage to cheers

Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi, released just over two weeks ago from federal detention, crossed the graduation stage on Monday to cheers from his fellow graduates.

The Palestinian activist was arrested by immigration authorities in Colchester, Vermont, while attending a naturalization interview. He was detained and ordered to be deported by the Trump administration on 14 April despite not being charged with a crime.

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Daughter of Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard arrested at Columbia University protests

Ramona Sarsgaard, 18, given ticket for criminal trespassing after Wednesday’s actions against Israel’s war in Gaza

The daughter of actors Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard was among those arrested at the latest Columbia University protests, marking the latest development in the anti-war demonstrations that also led to the temporary suspension of student journalists.

On Friday, the New York Post reported that 18-year-old Ramona Sarsgaard, a Columbia freshman, was arrested during Wednesday’s campus protests where students demonstrated against Israel’s deadly war in Gaza.

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Columbia University calls in police to clear pro-Palestinian protesters

University’s president says activists refused to leave library despite warnings of disciplinary action and arrest

Columbia University asked the New York police department to help clear pro-Palestinian activists from the campus’s main library after protesters clashed with the school’s public safety officers.

Claire Shipman, the university’s acting president, said in a statement that protesters had refused to leave the building despite being warned that a failure to comply would result in disciplinary action and possibly arrest for trespassing.

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‘What is left of our democracy?’: freed Palestinian human rights advocate warns of US authoritarian rule

Mohsen Mahdawi, student detained by Ice last month, pens blistering attack on Trump’s deportation policies

Mohsen Mahdawi, the Palestinian green-card holder and Columbia University student freed on Wednesday after more than two weeks in immigration detention, has issued a stark warning about the US’s descent into authoritarianism.

“Once the repression of dissent, in the name of security, becomes a key objective of a government, authoritarian rule and even martial law are not far off. When they look at my case, all Americans should ask themselves: what is left of our democracy, and who will be targeted next?” said Mahddawi in an op-ed for the New York Times.

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Mohsen Mahdawi, Palestinian green card holder and Columbia student, detained by Ice

Mahdawi was at a naturalization interview in Vermont when he was taken in move his lawyers say is ‘retaliation’

Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian green card holder and student at Columbia University, was apprehended by US immigration authorities in Vermont on Monday, according to his lawyers and a video of the incident.

Mahdawi, who was a leader of the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia last spring, was arrested by Ice on Monday morning in Colchester, Vermont, while he was attending a naturalization interview, his lawyer said in a statement to the Guardian.

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Whata s in a name? One-third of voters dona t know candidates

Less than five weeks before elections that will determine control of the U.S. Congress for the next two years, about a third of registered voters do not know the name of their party's candidate for office, a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll found. Name recognition is critical in motivating voters, is the reason candidates spend millions of dollars on TV ads and is a major factor in incumbents' advantage in fending off challengers.

7 years for Sheldon Silver

Sheldon Silver, the former speaker of the state Assembly who rose to become one of New York's most powerful politicians, was sentenced to seven years in prison Friday for his conviction on federal corruption charges. Silver, a Democrat from Manhattan's Lower East Side, had served as speaker for more than two decades, and influenced nearly every major aspect of state politics.

A Tale of Two Ryans

Yesterday I noted that Republicans now dominate many old blue collar manufacturing districts that used to tilt decisively Democratic as recently as Bill Clinton's time. And one of the Democrats who has made some noises about how the neglect of the working class in the heartland has been a mistake for Democrats is Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, who unsuccessfully challenged Nancy Pelosi for the leadership of the House Democratic caucus after the last election.

Kearny hopes SCOTUS will hear Keegan case, has filed for rare Writ of Certiorari

It may only be a dumping ground for construction debris and certain types of wastes but its possessive owner is as loathe to give it up as if there were gold in them thar hills. In what amounts to a last-ditch effort to hold onto a 110-acre parcel at Bergen Avenue and Newark-Jersey City Turnpike known as the Keegan landfill, the Town of Kearny is pinning its hopes on the highest court in the land.

Columbia grad students go on strike to protest university’s efforts to block unionization

Graduate teaching assistants have taken on heavier workloads, but their pay rarely rises to the level of a living wage. More than a year after graduate students at Columbia University voted to unionize with the United Automobile Workers, hundreds of The students plan to stage a week-long strike during what is the university's most hectic time, when students and professors are preparing for finals and the help of graduate teaching assistants, fellows, and research assistants is critical.