By Emma Tucker

(CNN) — Columbia University has announced a series of new policies, including restrictions on demonstrations, new disciplinary procedures and immediately reviewing its Middle East curriculum, making apparent concessions following President Trump’s revocation of $400 million in federal funding over campus protests.

The Trump administration demanded several changes, including the university enforcing its disciplinary policies, implement rules for protests, ban masks, announce a plan to hold student groups accountable, empower its law enforcement, review its Middle East studies programs and its admissions.

President Donald Trump has been threatening to cut federal money to colleges accused of tolerating antisemitism amid the Israel-Hamas war that began in October 2023. Columbia was the first to see its funding slashed.

The last academic year saw widespread campus unrest, including pro-Palestinian protests and encampments, counterprotests, building takeovers, arrests and scaled-back graduation ceremonies. Columbia became the epicenter of the nationwide demonstrations.

The university’s plans appear intended to address the complaints.

Whether the university’s plans will lead to the release of the $400 million in funding is unclear. CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.

Here are the main takeaways from the university’s announcement:

Protests, provosts and police powers

The university is hiring 36 new campus police officers, specifically trained to deal with protests, with powers to remove or arrest protesters, adding it will continue to cooperate with the New York Police Department as needed.

Under the new rules, all individuals who engage in protests or demonstrations must, when asked, show their university ID and are banned from wearing face coverings for the purpose of “concealing one’s identity,” according to the document.

Police will be empowered to identify protesters from both on and off campus to avoid disruption of academic activities. Protests inside and immediately outside academic buildings will now be banned.

The office of the provost will also have new authority to deal with disciplinary action against students involved in protests, although the university president retains the final decision on appeals.

The Trump administration on March 8 directed immigration officers to arrest Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia graduate and prominent Palestinian activist who played a central role in protests against the Israel-Hamas war on the campus last year.

The government cited his alleged “activities aligned to Hamas.” His detention was seen as having a chilling effect on college campuses, where students said they’re being forced to think carefully before exercising their constitutionally protected right to free speech. Khalil has not been charged with a crime.

Disciplinary directives

In the second week of his second term, Trump signed an executive order promising to “combat antisemitism” on college campuses, by revoking visas and directing universities to “monitor” and “report” on the activities of international students and staff.

The implementation of new anti discrimination policies allows the university to take sanctions against student groups for violations of their policy, the document says, and its approach and relevant policies “will incorporate the definition of antisemitism recommended by Columbia’s Antisemitism Taskforce in August 2024.”

Its definition of antisemitism reads in part: “Antisemitism is prejudice, discrimination, hate, or violence directed at Jews, including Jewish Israelis.”

A new university judicial board will be overseen by the office of the provost to determine appropriate disciplinary actions, according to the document, which has been provided to the Trump administration.

The document lays out how the university is applying “consistent, rigorous, and effective disciplinary actions,” citing how Columbia has expelled, suspended or temporarily revoked the degrees of students who occupied Hamilton Hall in April 2024.

The student coalition Columbia University Apartheid Divest demanded the university divest from its financial ties to Israel and a call for a ceasefire in Gaza last spring. After the university missed its deadline for an agreement on divestment, students and people unaffiliated with the school entered Columbia’s Hamilton Hall and barricaded themselves inside.

The university called the police to remove the protesters and more than 110 people were arrested, according to the NYPD.

“Disciplinary proceedings against other encampment participants are ongoing,” the document says.

Curriculum and admissions changes

The university is also appointing a new senior vice provost to conduct a “thorough review” of its curriculum in regional areas across the university, beginning with courses about the Middle East.

The document outlining changes to the university’s rules and policies was provided to the federal government, Columbia spokesperson Matthew Vuono told CNN. The new senior vice provost will be appointed this week “with a focus on promoting excellence in Regional Studies,” Vuono said.

The university said it will expand intellectual diversity among faculty to assure fairness in Middle East studies and will commit to “institutional neutrality” universitywide.

It also promised a review of admissions policies, noting admissions of Jewish and Black students have been in decline.

“We have worked hard to address the legitimate concerns raised both from within and without our Columbia community, including by our regulators, with respect to the discrimination, harassment, and antisemitic acts our Jewish community has faced in the wake of October 7, 2023,” read a statement from the office of the university’s interim president Dr. Katrina Armstrong.

The New York Civil Liberties Union’s executive director, Donna Lieberman, previously called the funding freeze an unconstitutional government effort “to coerce colleges and universities into censoring student speech and advocacy that isn’t MAGA-approved, like criticizing Israel or supporting Palestinian rights.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

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