Saturday 15/March/2025 – 10:10 AM
US officials have informed Columbia University of the status of the Department of Middle East Studies, South Asia and Africa under academic guardianship for a period of not less than 5 years, according to the Associated Press.
Columbia University crisis and the demonstrations of Gaza support
According to the report, the request came within conditions for federal re -financing, including $ 400 million, the US administration decided to withdraw, and the decisions came against the background of demonstrations and events at the university against the war on Gaza.
In the academic circles, this intervention was considered shocking and unprecedented. For its part, Joan Scott of the American Association of University Professors said that the Department of Middle East Studies, South Asia and Africa seems to be targeted because he is seen as criticizing Israel strongly.
Ted Mitchell, President of the American Education Council, described this step as it completely erasing the borders between the independence of academic institutions and federal control.
Trump had previously threatened to cut federal funding for universities that did not adhere to his agenda, whether with regard to the participation of sexual converted athletes in women’s competitions or the programs of diversity, fairness and inclusion (Dei).
On Friday, his administration announced the opening of investigations against 52 universities as part of his campaign against these programs, while the University of Colombia was a major target of Trump’s criticism, as it was a huge protest center in support of the Palestinians that started in the spring of last year.
The Federal Administration increased pressure on the university, as the Deputy Prosecutor, Todd Blanche, stated that the Ministry of Justice was investigating whether the university had hidden students wanted by the American authorities because of their role in the protests.
Strict conditions on the university
The speech directed by the American administration to Colombia also called for a ban on wearing masks on the campus to prevent the identity of the participants in the protests or use them to intimidate others, adopt a new definition of anti -Semitism, and to cancel the current system for disciplining students, in addition to providing a plan to reform admission operations in undergraduate, postgraduate and international employment programs.
The agency stated that the federal government has always granted universities a wide margin for managing its internal affairs, within the framework of federal laws, and that the American Supreme Court considers academic freedom an extension of the freedom of expression guaranteed by the first amendment to the constitution, and university leaders assert that this independence is what makes American academic institutions a preferred destination for the brightest international researchers.
Earlier, Columbia University announced the dismissal and suspension of the study of some students who occupied a building on the campus during pro -Palestinians protests in the spring of last year, and temporarily withdrew the certificates of others who have already graduated.
According to the Associated Press, the university said, in a letter to all students, that a judicial committee issued varying penalties against students who participated in occupying the Hamilton Hall building during protests against the war in Gaza.
