Columbia adopts controversial antisemitism definition as it negotiates with Trump administration

The pro-Palestinian encampment on the lawn in front of Columbia University’s Butler Library in April 2024. Protesters took over a reading room in the library Wednesday. Photo by ProudFarmerScholar, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

(JTA) — Columbia University is adopting a controversial definition of antisemitism and collaborating with a number of Jewish nonprofits on training programs as it reportedly nears a deal with the Trump administration over the school’s alleged failure to combat antisemitism on campus.

The university is also committing not to meet with its most prominent pro-Palestinian group, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, nor any affiliated groups, according to an email sent Tuesday by Interim President Claire Shipman to the university community.

“Organizations that promote violence or encourage disruptions of our academic mission are not welcome on our campuses and the University will not engage with them,” Shipman wrote about the group that organized the encampment at Columbia in April 2024 that drew allegations of antisemitism from Jews on campus and beyond.

The director of the Hillel serving Columbia and Barnard College, which recently made its own commitments in the course of settling a lawsuit brought by Jewish and Israeli students, said in a statement that he appreciated seeing Columbia clearly acknowledge antisemitism on campus.

“I welcome these steps taken by Columbia including the unequivocal recognition that there is an antisemitism problem on campus and that it has had a tangible impact on Jewish students’ sense of safety and belonging,” Brian Cohen said in the statement. “I hope this announcement marks the beginning of meaningful and sustained change. Columbia/Barnard Hillel will continue our work building vibrant Jewish life and advocating for continued change.”

Under the new commitments, Columbia is adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, which proponents say makes identifying and responding to antisemitism easier but has drawn criticism over its categorization of some forms of Israel criticism as antisemitic. It will also work with a number of groups — including the Anti-Defamation League, Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, and a faculty-led pro-Israel group created after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel — to offer programs about antisemitism.

“We hope to engage our community, in many ways, in an ongoing dialogue on the roots of antisemitism and its modern forms,” wrote Shipman, who said Columbia could also partner with Israel’s Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem. “These partnerships are intended to bring our community together and foster a greater understanding of these issues using tools we value at Columbia — education and respectful conversation.”

Columbia’s latest commitments join another wave it made in March as part of its broad efforts to win back more than $400 million in federal funding suspended by the Trump administration as it said it was cracking down on antisemitism on campuses. The settlement could include a $200 million payout from Columbia to the federal government as well as new transparency in hiring, admissions and donations from abroad, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Asked about the state of talks, Trump told CNN last week, “I think we’re going to probably settle with Harvard. We’re going to probably settle with Columbia. They want to settle very badly. There’s no rush.”

Asked how much money the settlement would entail, Trump said, “A lot of money.”

The deal would be the first of its kind between the Trump administration and a university as it continues to wage its battle against schools across the country, including Harvard and Cornell.

If the deal moves forward, it could potentially provide a roadmap for those schools to regain federal funding stripped by the Trump administration over allegations of antisemitism on their campuses.

In a post on X on Sunday, Shabbos Kestenbaum, a Harvard Divinity School graduate and high-profile critic of campus antisemitism, lambasted the alleged deal, writing that it would “barely be a slap on the wrist” for Columbia’s alleged civil rights violations.

“It would also set a dangerous precedent as the White House continues to negotiate with Harvard and other colleges, as well as undermine President Trump’s strong track record of prioritizing American students over elitist institutions,” Kestenbaum wrote.

The potential deal comes as congressional Republicans continue to press higher education officials over antisemitism. Members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce questioned the leaders of Georgetown University, the City University of New York and the University of California, Berkeley on Tuesday, suggesting that the schools had allowed antisemitism to fester. Democrats on the committee alleged that the Republicans were wielding antisemitism concerns to take broad aim at higher education and freedom of expression.