Columbia reaches $221 Million Settlement with U.S.
Columbia University has agreed to pay the United States government 221 million dollars to settle multiple civil‑rights investigations, including claims that the school failed to protect Jewish students and faculty from harassment. The deal restores hundreds of millions in frozen federal research grants and sets up an independent oversight board to monitor campus policies.
Most of the settlement consists of 200 million dollars over three years which goes to the Treasury, while 21 million dollars resolves related employment discrimination charges brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Acting EEOC chair Andrea Lucas called it the largest religious‑discrimination resolution in the agency’s history.
The payout is less than one year of Columbia’s research funding but it signals a tougher federal stance that could reach other elite universities now under review. Compliance costs will rise as schools expand training, security, and reporting systems. For donors and grant makers, the case raises questions about governance and risk at institutions that rely on public money.