Columbia University accepted the Trump Administration’s list of demands meant to clean up its anti-Semitism problem on Friday, but NBC correspondent Antonia Hylton warned on Nightly News that Trump’s eminently reasonable demands could be viewed as “extortion.”
Host Lester Holt introduced Hylton by claiming the anti-Semitism is merely alleged, “There’s news out of Columbia University tonight. The school has conceded to demands by the Trump administration over alleged anti-Semitism on campus. At stake $400 million in federal funding. Antonia Hylton is at the campus, Antonia what has Columbia agreed to?”
Columbia’s own task force found that Jewish students have faced increased violence and harassment since October 7. It also found that the school’s DEI apparatus didn’t care for diversity, equity, or inclusion when its Jewish students were being victimized because the far-left view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict holds that “white Jewish people” are the oppressors of “all brown people.”
As it was, Hylton began, “Lester, tonight Columbia relented to all of the demands after facing the Trump administration's deadline today and threat to pull $400 million. Much of it critical science and medical funding if the university did not comply.”
She continued, “The demands include a campus mask ban, empowering campus police officers with new powers, and appointing a new administrator to oversee the Middle East, South Asian, and African Studies Department. In a statement Columbia’s president said the way that the school has been portrayed has been ‘hard to reckon with,’ adding that ‘I have every faith in our ability to overcome the greatest of challenges.’”
All three of those terms are perfectly reasonable, but Hylton still warned that “Some Columbia professors tell NBC News, though, that they see the move as a form of extortion, warning they may be the first but not the last school to face these demands. No word yet from the White House, though, Lester.”
If Trump applies that list of demands to other schools, that would be a good thing. Schools should be more forceful in dealing with illegal demonstrations and make sure their classes have actual educational value and are not just indoctrination seminars.
Here is a transcript for the March 21 show:
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt
3/21/2025
7:09 PM ET
LESTER HOLT: There’s news out of Columbia University tonight. The school has conceded to demands by the Trump administration over alleged anti-Semitism on campus. At stake $400 million in federal funding. Antonia Hylton is at the campus, Antonia what has Columbia agreed to?
ANTONIA HYLTON: Lester, tonight Columbia relented to all of the demands after facing the Trump administration's deadline today and threat to pull $400 million. Much of it critical science and medical funding if the university did not comply.
The demands include a campus mask ban, empowering campus police officers with new powers, and appointing a new administrator to oversee the Middle East, South Asian, and African Studies Department. In a statement Columbia’s president said the way that the school has been portrayed has been “hard to reckon with,” adding that “I have every faith in our ability to overcome the greatest of challenges.”
Some Columbia professors tell NBC News, though, that they see the move as a form of extortion, warning they may be the first but not the last school to face these demands. No word yet from the White House, though, Lester.
