Now that Columbia University has reached a $221 million settlement with the Trump administration, Education Secretary Linda McMahon tells Newsmax that she would like to see the Ivy League school return to being "the acclaimed university that I think it is."
"They do incredible research," McMahon told Newsmax's "The Record with Greta Van Susteren." "It's a great university, but they really did have some issues."
The settlement, which breaks down to a $200 million payment to the government and $21 million into a claims fund for Jewish employees, comes after the Trump administration's investigation into alleged violations of anti-discrimination law.
Acting Columbia President Claire Shipman, meanwhile, has stressed that the university did not admit wrongdoing in reaching the settlement, which allows the school's federal funding, which had been cut off by the administration, to be restored.
McMahon told Van Susteren that Shipman's refusal to admit wrongdoing is not unusual in such a settlement.
"Greta, you're a lawyer, and I've been in business a long time, and, you know, when you have reached an agreement, you immediately want to say, 'you know, I really wasn't, I'm not admitting guilt on this. I'm not admitting any wrongdoing,'" she said.
However, McMahon added, "it did take $200 million to be payable to the United States government to settle the claims that were against the university, and I'm really glad we reached this agreement."
McMahon added that she met with Shipman in her office in Washington, D.C., and spoke with her several times on the phone, and she believes the university leader came to the table with "the best attitude."
"We really worked hard to put this deal together," so I'm glad we're where we are today," McMahon told Van Susteren. "And I'm glad for the students who are on campus. I'm glad for the faculty. And you know, this was an incredible change, that Jewish students on campus needed to feel safe, and they did not feel safe."
Shipman also said in her statement that Columbia recognized that it had antisemitism issues on the campus that needed to be dealt with, said McMahon.
"When these students, you know, were imprisoned, literally, in a library on campus and other students pounding on the glass wall outside and yelling 'death to Jews and death to Israel,' I mean, these were environments that were totally unsafe," she said.
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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