Columbia University has recently been at the center of major controversies and events primarily related to pro-Palestinian protests and federal government actions during 2024 and 2025. Here are the key happenings:
- In early 2025, Columbia University announced it would pay a settlement of over $200 million to the Trump administration. This settlement follows a long battle where the administration had cut about $400 million in federal grants and funding, accusing the university of tolerating antisemitism amid a wave of pro-Palestinian protests. The deal includes reforms in admissions, campus protests, curriculum, diversity programs, and other policies in exchange for restored funding.
- Throughout 2024 and into 2025, there were intense pro-Palestinian protests and occupations on campus, including encampments, walkouts, and a significant occupation of Butler Library in May 2025. The university called in NYPD multiple times to remove protesters, which led to hundreds of arrests and disciplinary actions against students. For example, on May 7, 2025, 78 protesters were arrested after occupying the main reading room of Butler Library.
- Nearly 80 students faced disciplinary actions, including suspensions and expulsions, related to these protests, reflecting the university's crackdown on protest activities that opposed Israel's actions in Gaza.
- These events sparked national attention, with the Trump administration praising Columbia's enforcement of campus policies while some civil liberties groups expressed concerns about free speech and academic freedom, warning that the settlement could lead to government surveillance over constitutionally protected freedoms.
- Columbia's president faced protests herself, including being booed at a graduation ceremony, with chants demanding the release of Mahmoud Khalil, a former graduate student arrested by ICE for his protest involvement.
- Additionally, a separate incident involved a significant data breach in August 2025 affecting personal information of about 870,000 students, applicants, and employees, attributed to politically motivated hacking.
In summary, since mid-2024, Columbia University has been deeply embroiled in disputes over pro-Palestinian activism on campus, government funding and policy changes under pressure from the Trump administration, large-scale protests and arrests, disciplinary actions against students, and concerns over free speech and academic freedom impacts.
