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<\/p>\nHigher education institutions must create space for debate without sacrificing students’ dignity and safety. The stakes are no longer just a matter of reputation \u2212 they’re legal, financial and moral.<\/p>\n
Andrea Picciotti-Bayer
\n\u00a0|\u00a0 Opinion contributor<\/p>\n
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Columbia University will pay $200 million in deal with Trump admin<\/p>\n
Columbia University came to an agreement with the Trump administration to restore its federal funding.<\/p>\n
As a mother of 10<\/a>, three of whom will be in college this fall, and a committed civil rights advocate, I\u2019ve long defended the rights of all people to live, study and worship free from fear and discrimination. That commitment doesn\u2019t end where campus protests begin.<\/p>\n In the wake of the Hamas massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, antisemitic harassment surged at many elite universities \u2212 not just in the form of protest slogans but also in physical exclusion, intimidation and administrative indifference. As Jewish students found themselves targeted because of their identity, too many institutions failed to act.<\/p>\n Now, the legal system is stepping in. Several top-ranked universities<\/a> \u2212 including Harvard, UCLA and my own undergraduate alma mater, Northwestern \u2212 have been forced to reckon with their failures through high-profile settlements and federally mandated reforms<\/a>.<\/p>\n The result is a growing body of precedent: When universities permit faith-based hostility toward students to flourish, they risk violating civil rights law.<\/p>\n UCLA agrees to settle antisemitism complaints<\/p>\n The University of California, Los Angeles,\u00a0announced July 29 that it will pay $6 million to settle claims<\/a> brought by Jewish students and a professor who were blocked from accessing parts of campus during pro-Palestinian encampments. University security erected barricades and allowed selective access, effectively creating what students called a \u201cJew Exclusion Zone<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Terms of the settlement include direct compensation to the plaintiffs, funding for Jewish organizations, new protest oversight rules and a 15-year commitment<\/a> to civil rights monitoring. The Justice Department weighed in<\/a>,\u00a0asserting\u00a0that\u00a0UCLA had created a discriminatory environment in violation of Title VI and the equal protection clause.<\/p>\n