Columbia’s interim president was reportedly pushed by the Trump administration to publicly double down on her dedication to imposing a masks ban and different coverage modifications following stories she privately downplayed the anti-Israel crackdown to college.
Katrina Armstrong, the interim head of the embattled college, had launched a public assertion Tuesday conceding she regretted “any confusion” and insisted the the Trump-ordered coverage modifications have been “real.”
However the clarification got here solely after the White Home bought concerned and urged her to reaffirm her dedication to the deal, the Wall Road Journal reported, citing individuals conversant in the matter.
The about-face got here after the Ivy League prez was reported to have assured college over the weekend there was no masks ban in place — despite the fact that the varsity had insisted to the Trump administration that they might be implementing one.
The Trump admin had known as for the whole ban on masks at campus protests as a part of a sweeping listing of reforms aimed toward cracking down on antisemitism.
The varsity, which was given a month to conform or danger shedding round $400 million in federal funding, caved and agreed to implement the modifications final Friday.
“I regret any confusion and inconsistent statements and want to make sure our position is clear as we go forward,” Armstrong mentioned within the assertion searching for to make clear her place.
“Let there be no confusion: I decide to seeing these modifications applied, with the total help of Columbia’s senior management staff and the Board of Trustees.
“Any suggestion that these measures are illusory, or lack my private help, is unequivocally false.
These modifications are actual, and they’re proper for Columbia,” she added.
The Put up reached out to Columbia however didn’t hear again instantly.
