Columbia’s Capitulation Backfired Spectacularly As Trump Admin Threatens Its Accreditation
from the never-give-in-to-bullies dept
Appeasing bullies never works. Not only does it reveal your willingness to abandon principles, but bullies will never be satisfied — they’ll always demand more.
Columbia University is learning this lesson the hard way. The school quickly caved to Trump’s demands to crack down on pro-Palestinian protests and discipline faculty. Meanwhile, Harvard stood up and fought back, winning praise, support, and initial legal victories.
So how is capitulation working out for Columbia? Not well. Not well at all.
The Department of Education announced on Wednesday afternoon that it has notified Columbia University’s accreditor of an alleged violation of federal anti-discrimination laws by the elite private university in New York that is part of the Ivy League.
The alleged violation means that Columbia, in the Trump administration’s assessment, has “failed to meet the standards” set by the relevant regional, government-recognized but independent body responsible for the accreditation of degree-granting institutions, as a kind of educational quality controller.
Despite Columbia’s compliance — the university has been aggressively cracking down on protests and abandoning its free speech commitments — Trump is still targeting the school for destruction. The threatened loss of accreditation would be catastrophic, cutting off federal financial aid and effectively crippling the institution.
The mechanism here is worth understanding: while the federal government doesn’t directly control accreditation, it wields enormous influence over the independent bodies that do. By alleging violations of federal anti-discrimination laws, the Education Department is essentially telling Columbia’s accreditor to strip the university’s credentials or risk losing federal recognition themselves.
Columbia’s situation illustrates the fundamental strategic error of institutional capitulation. By caving immediately, the university signaled weakness without gaining protection. Harvard’s approach — principled resistance backed by legal action — has proven more effective at both preserving institutional integrity and rallying support.
This pattern extends beyond universities. The same dynamic played out with law firms that caved to Trump, only to find themselves abandoned by clients and still targeted for further attacks.
The lesson for institutions facing authoritarian pressure campaigns is clear: capitulation doesn’t buy you safety — it just makes you a more appealing target.
Filed Under: accreditation, bullying, department of education, donald trump
Companies: columbia university
Comments on “Columbia’s Capitulation Backfired Spectacularly As Trump Admin Threatens Its Accreditation”
If you give a mouse a cookie…
I wonder how Target’s doing.
alleged violation of federal anti-discrimination laws
That’s fucking rich.
Good. Hope the scum that bowed down ends up hanging themselves in embarrassment and shame.
At least Guthrum had style...
And that is called paying the Dane-geld;
But we’ve proved it again and again,
That if once you have paid him the Dane-geld
You’ll never get rid of the Dane.
Re: At least Guthrum had style...
Somebody else calling Trump a Great Dane???
Re: As did Pink Floyd
Waiting – to cut out the deadwood.
Waiting – to clean up the city.
Waiting – to follow the worms.
Waiting – to put on a black shirt.
Waiting – to weed out the weaklings.
Waiting – to smash in their windows and kick in their doors.
Waiting – for the final solution to strengthen the strain
Waiting – to follow the worms.
– The Wall, Waiting for the Worms
The flat-earth worms are running the show now.
Schumer can't admit that appeasement won't work.He gets paid not to..
Some of my fellow Californians think our governor may have learned an enduring lesson from recent events, but I’m confident he’ll continue in his established career of cutting ‘half a loaf’ into havles.
h/t @elivalley.bsky.social
https://i.imgur.com/hOP5v9y.jpeg
Re:
Schumer’s always been a useless bitch.
\- A Chicagoan
Re:
The democrats are still beholden to capitalism, and thus struggle to condemn fascism.
This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it.
Lip Service
There seems to be an assumption that if Columbia halted the pogrom, that its other antisemitic practices would be overlooked. That’s not how things work. All discrimination needs to end, not just some of it.
Re:
You just show up here to sealion and tell lies because you’re a fascist.
Get fucked.
Re:
You seem to be under an assumption that the accusations of “antisemitic practices” weren’t just made-up bullshit.
Re: Re:
It’s a bad-faith assumption, FYI.
Re: "I was murdered!"
You calling pro-Palestinian activism a “pogrom” is kind of like a white supremacist crying “white genocide” over interracial marriage.
Re: Re:
Or a transphobe going around talking about “all trans women everywhere are dominating cis women’s sports and leaving no room for them” when they’re literally talking about a single trans woman competing in a sport with cis women regardless of how she finishes.
This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it.
Re: Re: Re:
Whats with the cis, are they different?
6/19 5:52 est
Re:
Here’s a fun idea for you to consider, Koby: If you believe opposing the widescale murder of Palestinians by the Israeli military is antisemitic, what do you think that says about how you view Jewish people—especially Israeli Jews—in regards to violence? Because from where I sit, it looks an awful lot like holding such a belief would itself imply a deeper belief in Jews being naturally bloodthirsty and murderous…which would also be a form of antisemitism.
That besides: A good chunk of the people whining about antisemitism on college campuses aren’t even Jewish—they’re conservative Christians who support Israel only because of their religion (and a strident belief in Rapture mythology). A lot of right-wingers don’t care about Jews except to use them as a cudgel against people who criticize the Israeli government.
Re: "progrom"
You keep using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means.
Seriously, someone get this one a dictionary.
Re:
“All discrimination needs to end, not just some of it.”
That’s a laugh coming from someone nicknamed kkkoby
Re:
Someone’s mad his dad’s got a divorce and neither of them wants custody.
Re:
Then why do your handlers only talk about antisemitism and pretend that prejudice and discrimination against Latinos or Muslims or Native Americans or Black people doesn’t exist?
No, no, don’t respond. It was a rhetorical question pointing out the hypocrisy and I don’t need to hear what Newsmax thinks about the topic.
Re:
Sounds good.
So you are open to having your family bombed and put in a mass grave?
Re:
This would work a lot better if Trump wasn’t in bed with anti-semites, like Ye, and his lunch guest Nick Funetes, and Ian Smith and Stew Peters..
Anti- Semitism is not actually a problem for Trump…it’s an transparent excuse.to inflict pain.
Re:
Which one? The original type during which Russian Empire nations chased out Jews from their legally owned premises, or the current one where Israel is chasing out Palestinians from their legally owned lands?
Re:
As usual, shut the fuck up, Koby. You’re clearly not a Jew, so those of us that are would appreciate you stifling your stupid hole about antisemitism.
"I was murdered!"
You calling pro-Palestinian activism a “pogrom” is kind of like a white supremacist crying “white genocide” over interracial marriage.
Re: Oops.
That was supposed to be a reply to our resident Mouth of Sauron, not a standalone comment.
Re: Re:
So nice, it was posted twice!
Re:
And that’s exactly what Koby has always been.
Why even bother?
Why would anyone ever think that they can negotiate or appease Trump?
You either flex or prepare to give up everything.
Yeah, how dare these universities attempt to stand up to the Washington Wackos. Kick the back of their knees and when they fall down stand on their heads and grind the heels of their jackboots on their faces. That’ll teach them some manners.
Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it
Perhaps Columbia University could have benefited from having a history department on their campus, or if they already do a competent one that they actually listen to, as maybe that would have lead them to understand why appeasement is a loser’s game.
Regime. Trump regime, not ‘administration’. ‘Administration’ gives it a normalcy it does not have.
Any institution which capitulates like they have in the face of such threats to academic freedom DESERVES to lose their accreditation.