4 ms·

I clearly don't follow so bear with me, > A consent decree is an agreement or settlement that resolves a dispute between two parties without admission of guilt

I clearly don't follow so bear with me, > A consent decree is an agreement or settlement that resolves a dispute between two parties without admission of guilt (in a criminal case) or liability (in a civil case). Why would this be in any way relevant to what I think is happening at Columbia from approximately ~20 min/week of random news snippets

refulgentis 2y ago
The new part is requiring a legal mechanism that grants the gov't operational control.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- credit_guy 2y ago
  It's not full operational control. A consent order means you promise to comply with some stuff. The government will monitor you if you comply or not. In that sense, it's some form of indirect control, but it's far from full control.
  - refulgentis 2y ago
    To be clear, definitely not full operational control -- just receivership for the Middle Eastern Studies department, hiring security officer with arrest powers, and an official with power to review any departments that offer education on the middle east. (via https://president.columbia.edu/content/fulfilling-our-commitments https://president.columbia.edu/content/fulfilling-our-commit...)
alwillis 2y ago
It means instead of accepting Columbia’s word they’ll comply, they want Columbia to enter into a legal agreement, bypassing possibly years of litigation if Columbia changes their minds without such an agreement. It would give the Trump administration an unprecedented amount of control of a private university.
- ethagknight 2y ago
  Only if they want to continue being funded to the same extent. Columbia receives more funding (% of budget and gross) than many public universities. An alternative for Columbia is to just reject federal funding and look to its endowment and forprofit services
  - jltsiren 2y ago
    Columbia's endowment is ~$20 billion. A sustainable spending level would be 3-4% of that, assuming no further donations, or 4-5%, if donations continue as usual. In any case, it would be at most $1 billion/year, and that money is already spent on current activities. Last year, Columbia received over $1.3 billion as government grants and contracts. Even if they stopped everything that currently depends on the endowment and redirected the money to replace federal funding, it would not be enough.
    - ethagknight 2y ago
      Sounds like they need to play along with the rules, then.
      - wredcoll 2y ago
        Yeah, who cares about the science and research they're doing when there's minorities to punish? Oops, I meant "anti-dei initiatives"
        Tadpole9181 2y ago
        This one isn't DEI, it's the fact that the university is "allowing" students to protest the genocide in Gaza. The White House is using the antisemitism arm of governance to attack their political enemies.
        tdeck 2y ago
        The dirty little secret is that a lot of the trustees and donors at these institutions are totally cool with the genocide in Gaza and are just looking for ways to suppress protest without getting their hands dirty. Whether it's ideological or merely a source of profit from the military industrial complex.

refulgentis 2y ago

The new part is requiring a legal mechanism that grants the gov't operational control.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
credit_guy 2y ago
It's not full operational control. A consent order means you promise to comply with some stuff. The government will monitor you if you comply or not. In that sense, it's some form of indirect control, but it's far from full control.
- refulgentis 2y ago
  To be clear, definitely not full operational control -- just receivership for the Middle Eastern Studies department, hiring security officer with arrest powers, and an official with power to review any departments that offer education on the middle east. (via https://president.columbia.edu/content/fulfilling-our-commitments https://president.columbia.edu/content/fulfilling-our-commit...)

alwillis 2y ago

It means instead of accepting Columbia’s word they’ll comply, they want Columbia to enter into a legal agreement, bypassing possibly years of litigation if Columbia changes their minds without such an agreement. It would give the Trump administration an unprecedented amount of control of a private university.

ethagknight 2y ago
Only if they want to continue being funded to the same extent. Columbia receives more funding (% of budget and gross) than many public universities. An alternative for Columbia is to just reject federal funding and look to its endowment and forprofit services
- jltsiren 2y ago
  Columbia's endowment is ~$20 billion. A sustainable spending level would be 3-4% of that, assuming no further donations, or 4-5%, if donations continue as usual. In any case, it would be at most $1 billion/year, and that money is already spent on current activities. Last year, Columbia received over $1.3 billion as government grants and contracts. Even if they stopped everything that currently depends on the endowment and redirected the money to replace federal funding, it would not be enough.
  - ethagknight 2y ago
    Sounds like they need to play along with the rules, then.
    - wredcoll 2y ago
      Yeah, who cares about the science and research they're doing when there's minorities to punish? Oops, I meant "anti-dei initiatives"
      - Tadpole9181 2y ago
        This one isn't DEI, it's the fact that the university is "allowing" students to protest the genocide in Gaza. The White House is using the antisemitism arm of governance to attack their political enemies.
        tdeck 2y ago
        The dirty little secret is that a lot of the trustees and donors at these institutions are totally cool with the genocide in Gaza and are just looking for ways to suppress protest without getting their hands dirty. Whether it's ideological or merely a source of profit from the military industrial complex.