❓WHAT HAPPENED: Columbia University is nearing a deal with the Trump administration to compensate victims of unlawful discrimination and increase transparency in hiring and admissions.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Columbia University and the Trump administration.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The draft agreement was first reported on Friday, July 11, 2025; Columbia University and the White House.
💬KEY QUOTE: A senior White House official told the media that the deal would “solidify reporting obligations related to foreign gifts” and ensure compensation for “victims of civil rights abuses.”
🎯IMPACT: The deal could set a precedent for other universities and increase accountability on anti-Semitism and racial discrimination issues.
Columbia University is in the final stages of negotiations with the Trump administration on a deal addressing unlawful discrimination and anti-Semitism. The agreement would require Columbia to compensate victims and adopt measures to increase transparency in hiring and admissions processes.
Notably, The National Pulse reported on Thursday that attorney Jay Lefkowitz, known for once securing a lenient deal for sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, was hired to act as a negotiator for Columbia in its discussions with the Trump administration. Sources told The National Pulse that Lefkowitz has outplayed federal negotiators in the Trump administration and was on the verge of finalizing an agreement with the U.S. government to rescue the far-left college from financial disaster.
The university’s board of trustees convened on Sunday to discuss the draft agreement, which would also restore access to $400 million in federal grants and contracts previously frozen by the White House’s anti-Semitism task force. A senior White House official told the media that the deal would “solidify reporting obligations related to foreign gifts” and ensure compensation for “victims of civil rights abuses.”
Notably, the agreement includes provisions for public disclosure of hiring and admissions data to ensure compliance with the Supreme Court’s ban on affirmative action. Harmeet Dhillon, the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, is expected to supervise compliance. The agreement also includes measures that Columbia University agreed to earlier this year, such as tightening protest rules and placing its Middle Eastern Studies department under receivership. However, it is believed that in its current form, the deal lacks systemic reforms like the consent decree pushed by the Trump White House earlier this year and a politically diverse presidential search committee tasked with replacing the school’s interim president, Claire Shipman.
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