LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The Trump administration is investigating dozens of colleges and universities, accusing some of using race-based programs and others of failing to rein in antisemitism. Columbia University has perhaps faced the most scrutiny. The administration sent a letter requesting unprecedented control at the university over things like discipline policies and academic programs. NPR's Elissa Nadworny is here to explain. Good morning.
ELISSA NADWORNY, BYLINE: Good morning, Leila.
FADEL: OK. So let's start with this letter that the Trump administration sent to Columbia University. What was in it?
NADWORNY: So the letter demands that the university make several dramatic changes, including implementing stricter student discipline policies, like expulsion and multiyear suspension, reimagining admissions. And this is the one that put a lot of free speech scholars really on alert. It said it wanted to place its Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies Department under, quote, "academic receivership for a minimum of five years." Now, the letter doesn't explain why, and a lot of these bullet points are very vague. But all of these were described in the letter as conditions for receiving federal funding and necessary for reissuing the $400 million in federal grants that the administration canceled over allegations that Columbia had failed to police antisemitism on campus.
FADEL: And what's been the reaction?
NADWORNY: A Columbia University spokesman said in an email to NPR that school officials were reviewing the letter. They said they're, quote, "committed to advancing the school's mission, supporting students and addressing all forms of discrimination and hatred on campus." I talked about the federal government weighing in on this level with Ted Mitchell, the president of the American Council on Education, which represents most colleges in the U.S.
TED MITCHELL: Without the independence to be able to create and produce a wide-ranging academic program, we lose academic freedom. We lose the ability to challenge some of the most fundamental shibboleths in society.
NADWORNY: And, Leila, it's worth noting that the federal government has almost never used its authority to cut off money from schools and colleges.
FADEL: And it's not just Columbia, right?
NADWORNY: That's right. Trump has said colleges that don't get in line with his administration's priorities, like eliminating research related to being transgender or having diversity and inclusion programs - they may also lose federal funding. On Friday, his administration announced investigations into 52 universities as part of this DEI crackdown. The majority of those colleges, which include schools like the University of Kansas and the University of Utah - they partnered with a small nonprofit called The PhD Project that helps students from underrepresented groups earn doctoral degrees in business. The Education Department alleges the program limits eligibility based on race, and so colleges involved are engaging in, quote, "race-exclusionary practices."
FADEL: So how are universities handling all this?
NADWORNY: So Lynn Pasquerella, the president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities, has been talking to administrators the last few days.
LYNN PASQUERELLA: They're feeling beleaguered. They're feeling overwhelmed. They feel like they are being coerced into making decisions they believe are unethical, but feel they have no choice, so there's a deep sense of moral distress.
NADWORNY: You know, this week, college leaders are essentially going program by program to make sure that they're abiding by the administration's rules and guidance. And honestly, Leila, they're watching what's happening at Columbia, and they're worried that they may be next.
FADEL: That's Elissa Nadworny. Thanks for this, Elissa.
NADWORNY: You bet. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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