Columbia, Seeking To Restore ‘Essential’ Research Partnership With Federal Government, Accepts Administration’s Authority ‘To Regulate Us’

As Columbia University enters the summer break at “a tipping point” over its lack of federal funding, its acting president, Claire Shipman, is doubling down on her effort to negotiate the school’s way back into the good graces of the government. In a video statement shared on Thursday, Ms. Shipman offered an update on the school’s outlook as its leaders “re-engage more deeply” in discussions with the administration. While Ms. Shipman did not gloss over the university’s “increasingly acute” challenges — even warning at one point that the school was approaching a “tipping point in terms of preserving our research excellence” — she made clear that the school was looking to solve those problems by working with the government, not against it. Striking a conciliatory tone, Ms. Shipman expressed her intention to restore the school’s “essential” research partnership with the federal government and emphasized that the “government has the ability to regulate us, and we are committed to following the law.” She even went as far as to say that the government’s concerns “ were and continue to be our concerns, our community’s concerns.” Ms. Shipman’s address suggests that “Columbia recognizes the real world political situation that it is in,” a fellow at the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, Steve McGuire, tells the Sun. Mr. McGuire, whose organization partners with universities to promote academic freedom, praised Ms. Shipman for demonstrating “responsible leadership” by being “very prudent and realistic.” Columbia, which has been the site of some of the most virulent anti-Israel campus protests in the country since October 7, 2023, was among the first universities to be targeted by the Trump administration in its crackdown on campus antisemitism. Since then, the university has, for the most part, heeded the administration’s guidance. Back in March, Columbia agreed to implement a list of nine demands issued by the administration as a “precondition” for reinstating $400 million in revoked federal grants. Those funds were frozen over Columbia’s “continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.”Columbia’s cooperation has drawn rare praise from the Trump administration and even from the president himself. Ms. Shipman has had a harder time, though, getting Columbia’s community on board with her conciliatory approach. Ms. Shipman appeared to address the criticism in her Thursday statement, insisting that “ following the law, attempting to resolve a complaint is not capitulation. That narrative is incorrect.” Columbia’s actions come in stark contrast to those taken by its Ivy League counterpart in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard University, when directed by the administration to implement a set of reforms or lose out on billions of dollars in federal funding, responded by taking the government to court. Those reforms, however, were more controversial and expansive than those that were issued to Columbia. Since then, Harvard has fielded retaliation from the government on nearly all fronts, including a challenge to the school’s ability to enroll international students. Harvard opted to take the government to court for that challenge, too. Harvard’s defiant approach to the government has made the university president, Alan Garber, into something of a folk hero among Harvard’s community. The approval was reflected in the thunderous applause and minute-long standing ovation granted to Mr. Garber as he delivered his end-of-year remarks at Harvard’s recent graduation ceremony. In contrast, Ms. Shipman’s speech at Columbia was drowned out by heckles and boos.Popularity contest aside, “ even if Harvard wins legally on a lot of these issues, at the end of the day, the amount of damage that it will have suffered in the meantime is going to be immense,” Mr. McGuire tells the Sun. In contrast, “Columbia has avoided a lot of that so far” while also steering clear of taking action that would constitute a “profound violation of its principles.” “ I think a lot of schools are looking at both Columbia and Harvard and trying to decide which of the two approaches makes the most sense for them,” Mr. McGuire says. “And I hope that most universities will decide that following a model similar to Columbia’s is the better way to go.”

Columbia, Seeking To Restore ‘Essential’ Research Partnership With Federal Government, Accepts Administration’s Authority ‘To Regulate Us’

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