Antisemitism Task Force Weighing Consent Decree for Columbia

The federal task force investigating Columbia University for its alleged failures to address antisemitism is considering putting the Ivy League institution under a consent decree, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

A consent decree would add legal heft to the task force’s recent demands and hold Columbia accountable to following through on its recent commitments to overhaul disciplinary processes, ban masks at protests and review academic programs focused on the Middle East, among other changes. Under a consent decree, a federal judge would have oversight over the university.

Columbia would have to agree to enter a consent decree, according to the Journal. The government has used consent decrees in the past to force police departments to make reforms, particularly after high-profile incidents of brutality, and also to hold companies, such as Live Nation, accountable.

The university recently agreed to make a number of changes in order to restore its federal funds after the task force canceled $400 million in grants and contracts to Columbia. More recently, the Trump administration reportedly froze all of Columbia’s NIH funding, an additional $250 million. 

The task force “doesn’t think Columbia is a good-faith actor willing to make the significant changes on campuses necessary to curb what it thinks are civil-rights infractions against Jewish students,” the Journal reported.