Columbia University may soon be $221 million poorer, but its decision to sign a resolution agreement with the Trump administration has provided a model for academic institutions seeking to regain their federal funding by uprooting campus antisemitism.

In the 22-page settlement, Columbia agreed to pay $200 million to settle “claims related to discriminatory practices” and $21 million to a fund to resolve civil-rights cases filed by Jewish employees with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

“This is also the largest ever settlement for victims of anti-Semitism and for workers of any religion,” said the White House fact sheet.

At the same time, Columbia codified its earlier pledges to balance its Middle East curriculum, hire a liaison for antisemitism issues, end race-based diversity programs, and enforce disciplinary measures against student protesters who crossed the line from free speech to disruption and harassment.

In return, the administration agreed to restore an estimated $400 million in research grants and take no adverse civil or agency action against Columbia for any previous violations.

The agreement addressed concerns about intellectual freedom and the politicization of the academy by stressing that the administration would not “dictate faculty hiring, University hiring, admissions decisions, or the content of academic speech.”

Education Secretary Linda McMahon hailed the agreement as a “roadmap for elite universities that wish to regain the confidence of the American public,” and she wasn’t alone.

Former Harvard President Lawrence Summers called the deal “an excellent template for agreements with other institutions,” including Harvard, which has rejected the Trump administration’s overtures.

“First, academic freedom is preserved as the University maintains academic autonomy,” Mr. Summers wrote on X. “Second, ongoing reform with respect to anti Semitism, maintenance of order, promoting merit-based admissions and hiring, and strengthening the commitment to intellectual excellence is reinforced and a framework for further reform is established.”

Mr. Summers continued: “Third, normality is restored with a return to normal funding patterns, availability of visas for foreign students and removal of legal overhangs.”

The former Treasury secretary under President Clinton said that he could quibble with the details but added that the agreement reached Wednesday “may be the best day that higher education has had in the last year.”

The Anti-Defamation League praised the deal as an “important next step in fighting antisemitism and hate on their campus, along with restoring federal funding needed for critical research.”

Brian Cohen, executive director of the Columbia/Barnard Hillel Kraft Center for Jewish Life, said the resolution recognizes that “antisemitism at @Columbia is real, and it has had a tangible impact on Jewish students’ sense of safety and belonging and, in turn, their civil rights.”

“This is not the end of the process, however it is a major step forward,” Mr. Cohen said on X.

Not everyone was impressed.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, New York Democrat, accused Columbia of caving to the Trump administration with the “embarrassing” deal instead of following Harvard’s example by taking the federal government to court.

“Columbia has effectively waived the white flag of surrender in its battle at the heart of the Trump Administration’s war on higher education and academic freedom,” Mr. Nadler wrote on X.

“While Columbia needs to do a better job at protecting its students against antisemitism on campus, this disgraceful and humiliating action will not, in anyway, improve the situation on campus for Jewish students,” he maintained.

The anti-Israel group Columbia University Apartheid Divest also derided the deal.

“Imagine selling your students out just so you can pay Trump $221 million and keep funding genocide,” the group said.

The landmark resolution comes three weeks after the University of Pennsylvania recouped $175 million in federal funding after agreeing to bar males from women’s sports and removing them from the record books.

More deals with wayward higher education institutions are “upcoming,” Mr. Trump said in a Wednesday post on Truth Social.

Columbia has already shown that it means business regarding unruly student demonstrations.

The day before the agreement was announced, Columbia University’s Judicial Board punished nearly 80 students with expulsions, one-to-three-year suspensions, and degree revocations for their involvement in disruptive pro-Palestinian protests, according to the Columbia Spectator.

The agreement was signed by Ms. McMahon, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Attorney General Pam Bondi and acting Columbia President Claire Shipman.

Ms. Shipman stressed that the university would retain control over its academic and operational spheres, calling that “our north star,” but that Columbia officials also had to face facts about the threatened loss of federal funding.

“We have seen not only $400 million in federal grants frozen, but also the majority of our $1.3 billion a year in federal funding placed on hold,” she said in a statement. “The prospect of that continuing indefinitely, along with the potential loss of top scientists, would jeopardize our status as a world-leading research institution.”

Cornell Law School professor William Jacobson disagreed with the “Columbia capitulated” argument, calling the deal “a ‘win’ for Columbia at several levels.”

“While the administration extracted a lot of meaningful concessions, maybe all it could, most of those concessions involve Columbia agreeing to follow the law, which it already is obligated to do,” he said in an email.

“The financial penalty Columbia is paying is large by any standard, but certainly manageable for a university that size, and a lot of it is recouped by regaining the grant funding,” he added.

He said left-wing faculty should be encouraged and antisemitism foes should be concerned by the provision explicitly protecting hiring decisions from federal interference.

“Without a rebalancing of the faculty, the culture at Columbia cannot change,” said Mr. Jacobson, who runs the conservative Legal Insurrection blog. “So if I’m looking at this from the perspective of Columbia, particularly the radical faculty, this is a win.”

The agreement also requires Columbia to designate an administrator and a resolution monitor to ensure the terms are followed.

• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.