The powerful chair of the House Education Committee accused Columbia University of “double dealing” on its promised mask crackdown Tuesday — after the school’s leader privately assured faculty there was no ban in place.
“Columbia University’s apparent double-dealing only hurts Jewish students and faculty – that is unacceptable,” said Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI).
“The Trump administration was clear that strong, decisive actions must be taken by the university to address the out-of-control antisemitism festering on Columbia’s campus.”
Columbia’s interim president Katrina Armstrong downplayed a slew of Trump-ordered policy changes during a tense meeting with faculty over the weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Armstrong assured staffers there was no mask ban in place, according to a transcript of the meeting obtained by the newspaper.
It followed a highly-publicized statement from the Ivy League university capitulating on a sweeping list of reforms pitched by the Trump administration in the aims of reining in antisemitism on campus, including a total ban on masks at protests.
In a statement later Tuesday, Armstrong said she regretted “any confusion” about a mask ban and insisted the policy changes “are real.”
“I regret any confusion and inconsistent statements and want to make sure our position is clear as we go forward,” she said. “Let there be no confusion: I commit to seeing these changes implemented, with the full support of Columbia’s senior leadership team and the Board of Trustees.
“Any suggestion that these measures are illusory, or lack my personal support, is unequivocally false. These changes are real, and they are right for Columbia.”
Columbia, on Friday, said it would allow cops to “remove individuals from campus and/or arrest them when appropriate” and that “face masks or face coverings are not allowed for the purpose of concealing one’s identity in the commission of violations of University policies or state, municipal, or federal laws.”
The university caved to the Trump admin’s demands after it was given a month to bring its policies in line, under threat of losing some $400 million in federal grants.
However, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said Tuesday that it wasn’t yet assured the elite NYC school’s actions were enough to ensure the funds would be restored.
“They have to abide and comply with the terms that we have set down and [we’ve] talked with them and they’ve agreed to,” McMahon told reporters at the Education Department’s headquarters near Capitol Hill.