Columbia University Bows to Demands After Trump Freezes Funding

Columbia University agreed to ban masks and expand campus police powers in response to demands from the Trump administration after it froze $400 million in federal funding to the school.

The university also agreed to appoint a senior vice provost to oversee the Middle East, South Asian and African Studies department, according to a statement it released Friday. The federal government had called on the school last week to put the department under “academic receivership” and to overhaul international recruiting policies as well as undergraduate and graduate admissions.