Editing Columbia University (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Columbia University}}

===18th century===
[[File:Johnson2.JPG|thumb|left|180px|[[Samuel Johnson (American educator)|Samuel Johnson]], the first [[List of presidents of Columbia University|president of Columbia]]]]
Discussions regarding the founding of a college in the [[Province of New York]] began as early as 1704.<ref name="McCaughey20032">{{cite book|last=McCaughey|first=Robert|title=Stand, Columbia : A History of Columbia University in the City of New York|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2003|isbn=978-0-231-13008-0|location=New York, New York|page=1}}<!--|access-date=April 11, 2011--></ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Keppel|first=Fredrick Paul|url=https://archive.org/details/columbia01keppgoog|title=Columbia|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1914|location=Oxford, England|page=[https://archive.org/details/columbia01keppgoog/page/n49 26]}}</ref>

Classes were initially held in July 1754 and were presided over by the college's first president, [[Samuel Johnson (American educator)|Samuel Johnson]] who was an Anglican Priest.<ref name="Matthews 19042">{{cite book|last=Matthews|first=Brander|url=https://archive.org/details/ahistorycolumbi02unkngoog|title=A History of Columbia University: 1754–1904|author2=John Pine|author3=Harry Peck|author4=Munroe Smith|publisher=Macmillan Company|year=1904|location=London, England}}</ref>{{rp|8–10}}<ref name="Butler 19122">{{cite book|last=Butler|first=Nicholas Murray|title=An Official Guide to Columbia University|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=1912|location=New York, New York}}</ref>{{rp|3}} The college was officially founded on October 31, 1754, as King's College by royal charter of [[George II of Great Britain|George II]],<ref>{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a3wwAQAAMAAJ |title=Ecclesiastical Records of the State of New York |publisher=J. B. Lyon Company |year=1905 |editor-last=Hastings |editor-first=Hugh |volume=V |location=Albany |pages=3506 |language=en |access-date=March 15, 2023 |archive-date=April 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428064451/https://books.google.com/books?id=a3wwAQAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pine |first=John B. |date=1919 |title=King's College and the Early Days of Columbia College |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/42890076.pdf |journal=Proceedings of the New York State Historical Association |publisher=Fenimore Art Museum |volume=17 |pages=116 |jstor=42890076|access-date=March 15, 2023 |archive-date=March 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315090452/https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/42890076.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> making it the oldest institution of higher learning in the [[State of New York]] and the fifth oldest in the United States.<ref name="A Brief History of Columbia2" />

In 1763, Johnson was succeeded in the presidency by [[Myles Cooper]], a graduate of [[The Queen's College, Oxford]], and an ardent [[Tories (British political party)|Tory]]. In the charged political climate of the [[American Revolution]], his chief opponent in discussions at the college was an undergraduate of the class of 1777, [[Alexander Hamilton]].<ref name="Butler 19122" />{{rp|3}} The [[Irish people|Irish]] anatomist, [[Samuel Clossy]], was appointed professor of natural philosophy in October 1765 and later the college's first professor of anatomy in 1767.<ref name="Stookey2">{{cite journal|last1=Stookey|first1=Byron|date=1964|title=Samuel Clossy, A.B., M.D., F.R.C.P. of Ireland: First Professor of Anatomy, King's College (Columbia), New York|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44451190|journal=Bulletin of the History of Medicine|volume=38|issue=2|pages=153–167|issn=0007-5140|jstor=44451190|pmid=14133620|access-date=October 15, 2020|archive-date=October 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016060217/https://www.jstor.org/stable/44451190|url-status=live}}</ref> 

[[File:Columbia1790.jpg|thumb|left|King's College Hall in 1790]]
The [[American Revolutionary War]] broke out in 1776, and was catastrophic for the operation of King's College, which suspended instruction for eight years beginning in 1776 with the arrival of the [[Continental Army]]. The suspension continued through the military occupation of New York City by British troops until their [[Evacuation Day (New York)|departure]] in 1783. The college's library was looted and its sole building requisitioned for use as a military hospital first by American and then British forces.<ref>{{cite book|last=Schecter|first=Barnet|url=https://archive.org/details/battlefornewyork00sche|title=The Battle for New York: The City at the Heart of the American Revolution|publisher=Walker & Company|year=2002|isbn=978-0-8027-1374-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=McCullough|first=David|title=1776|title-link=1776 (book)|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=2005|isbn=978-0-7432-2671-4|author-link=David McCullough}}</ref>

[[File:Columbia1797.jpg|thumb|The 1797 [[Cartography of New York City|Taylor Map]] of [[New York City]], showing "The Colledge [sic]" at its Park Place (then Robinson Street) location and its earlier location, [[Trinity Church (Manhattan)|Trinity Church]], on the lower left]]
The legislature agreed to assist the college, and on May 1, 1784, it passed "an Act for granting certain privileges to the College heretofore called King's College".<ref name="Matthews 19042" /> The Act created [[Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York|a board of regents]] to oversee the resuscitation of King's College, and, in an effort to demonstrate its support for the new Republic, the legislature stipulated that "the College within the City of New York heretofore called King's College be forever hereafter called and known by the name of [[Columbia College of Columbia University|Columbia College]]",<ref name="Matthews 19042" /> a reference to [[Columbia (personification)|Columbia]], an alternative name for America which in turn comes from the name of [[Christopher Columbus]]. The Regents finally became aware of the college's defective constitution in February 1787 and appointed a revision committee, which was headed by [[John Jay]] and Alexander Hamilton. In April of that same year, a new charter was adopted for the college granted the power to [[Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York|a separate board of 24 trustees]].<ref name=":0">Moore, Nathanal Fischer (1846). ''A Historical Sketch of Columbia''. New York, New York: Columbia University Press.</ref>{{rp|65–70}}

For a period in the 1790s, with New York City as the federal and state capital and the country under successive [[Federalist Party (United States)|Federalist]] governments, a revived Columbia thrived under the auspices of Federalists such as Hamilton and Jay. President [[George Washington]] and Vice President [[John Adams]], in addition to both houses of [[United States Congress|Congress]] attended [[Columbia University commencement|the college's commencement]] on May 6, 1789, as a tribute of honor to the many alumni of the school who had been involved in the [[American Revolution]].<ref name="Matthews 19042" />{{rp|74}}[[File:Columbia_law_madison.gif|thumb|The library and law school buildings, both constructed in a [[Gothic and Revival architecture|Gothic and Revival]] style, on the [[Madison Avenue]] campus]]
===19th century===
[[File:Detroit_Photographic_Company_(0671).jpg|thumb|[[Low Memorial Library]], {{circa|1900}}]]
[[File:Almamater.jpg|thumb|''[[Alma Mater (New York sculpture)|Alma Mater]]'', by [[Daniel Chester French]] (1903)]]
In November 1813, the college agreed to incorporate its medical school with The College of Physicians and Surgeons, a new school created by the Regents of New York, forming [[Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons]].<ref name=":0" />{{rp|53–60}} In 1857, the college moved from the King's College campus at Park Place to a primarily [[Gothic Revival]] campus on 49th Street and [[Madison Avenue]], where it remained for the next forty years.

During the last half of the 19th century, under the presidency of [[Frederick A. P. Barnard]], for whom [[Barnard College]] is named, the institution rapidly assumed the shape of a modern university. Barnard College was created in 1889 as a response to the university's refusal to accept women.<ref>{{cite web|last=McCaughey|first=Robert|date=December 10, 2003|title=Leading American University Producers of PhDs, 1861–1900|url=http://beatl.barnard.columbia.edu/stand_columbia/phdleaders1861-1900.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060909114704/http://beatl.barnard.columbia.edu/stand_columbia/phdleaders1861-1900.html|archive-date=September 9, 2006|access-date=August 10, 2006|work=Stand, Columbia – A History of Columbia University|publisher=Columbia University Press}}</ref>

In 1896, university president [[Seth Low]] moved the campus from 49th&nbsp;Street to its present location, a more spacious campus in the developing neighborhood of [[Morningside Heights]].<ref name="Matthews 19042" /><ref name="hewitt18962">{{Cite book|last=Hewitt|first=Abram S|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/264897|title=Selected writings, with Introduction by Nicholas Murray Butler|date=1965|publisher=Kennikat Press|editor-last=Nevins|editor-first=Allan|location=Port Washington, N.Y.|pages=315–337|language=en|chapter=Liberty, Learning, and Property : Dedication of the New Buildings of Columbia University, Morningside Heights, May 2, 1896|oclc=264897|quote=the time has come for a new and nobler civilization,"&nbsp;... when&nbsp;... "the wealth which has accumulated in this city by the joint association of its people, and to which every human being contributes by his industry, shall come to be regarded as a sacred trust to be administered in the public interest for works of beneficence to all.|author-link=Abram Hewitt|orig-year=First published 1937 by Columbia University Press|chapter-url=http://www.digifind-it.com/njhistoricalportal/data/ringwood//Selected%20Writings%20of%20Abram%20S.%20Hewitt.pdf#page=328 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181025030640/http://www.digifind-it.com/njhistoricalportal/data/ringwood/Selected%20Writings%20of%20Abram%20S.%20Hewitt.pdf |archive-date=October 25, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> Under the leadership of Low's successor, [[Nicholas Murray Butler]], who served for over four decades, Columbia rapidly became the nation's major institution for research, setting the multiversity model that later universities would adopt.<ref name="A Brief History of Columbia2" /> Prior to becoming the president of Columbia University, Butler founded [[Teachers College]], as a school to prepare home economists and manual art teachers for the children of the poor, with philanthropist [[Grace Hoadley Dodge]].<ref name="McCaughey20032" /> Teachers College is currently affiliated as the university's Graduate School of Education.<ref name="A Brief History of Columbia2"/>

===20th century===
{{See also|Columbia University protests of 1968|Student activism at Columbia University}}
In the 1940s, faculty members, including [[John R. Dunning]], [[Isidor Isaac Rabi|I. I. Rabi]], [[Enrico Fermi]], and [[Polykarp Kusch]], began what became the [[Manhattan Project]], creating the first nuclear fission reactor in the [[Americas]] and researching [[gaseous diffusion]].<ref name="Broad2">{{Cite news|last=Broad|first=William J.|date=October 30, 2007|title=Why They Called It the Manhattan Project|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/science/30manh.html|access-date=October 30, 2007|archive-date=July 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707172414/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/science/30manh.html|url-status=live|url-access=limited}}</ref> 

In 1928, [[Seth Low Junior College]] was established by Columbia University in order to mitigate the number of Jewish applicants to Columbia College.<ref name="McCaughey20032" /><ref name="spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu2">{{cite web |title=Seth Low College Added to Columbia |date=3 April 1928 |work=Columbia Spectator |url=http://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/columbia?a=d&d=cs19280403-01.2.7 |access-date=April 23, 2024 |via=Columbia Spectator Archive |archive-date=April 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424053505/http://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/columbia?a=d&d=cs19280403-01.2.7 |url-status=live}}</ref> The college was closed in 1936 due to the adverse effects of the [[Great Depression]] and its students were subsequently taught at Morningside Heights, although they did not belong to any college but to the university at large.<ref>Asimov, I. (1979) ''In Memory Yet Green'', Avon Books, pp. 156–157, 159–160, 240</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.columbia-current.org/seth_low_junior_college.html |title=Columbia for Jews? The Untold Story of Seth Low Junior College |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620184233/http://www.columbia-current.org/seth_low_junior_college.html |archive-date=June 20, 2017 |first=Leeza |last=Hirt |work=The Current |date=Fall 2016 |access-date=April 23, 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> There was an evening school called University Extension, which taught night classes, for a fee, to anyone willing to attend.

In 1947, the program was reorganized as an undergraduate college and designated the [[School of General Studies]] in response to the return of [[GI (military)|GIs]] after [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite web |title=History |url=https://www.gs.columbia.edu/content/history |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240406201539/https://www.gs.columbia.edu/content/history |archive-date=April 6, 2024 |access-date=April 23, 2024 |website=Columbia University School of General Studies}}</ref> In 1995, the School of General Studies was again reorganized as a full-fledged liberal arts college for [[non-traditional students]] (those who have had an academic break of one year or more, or are pursuing dual-degrees) and was fully integrated into Columbia's traditional undergraduate curriculum.<ref>{{cite web|title=What makes GS different from Columbia's traditional undergraduate colleges?|url=https://gs.columbia.edu/what-makes-gs-different-columbias-traditional-undergraduate-colleges|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161123053937/https://gs.columbia.edu/what-makes-gs-different-columbias-traditional-undergraduate-colleges|archive-date=November 23, 2016|access-date=November 24, 2016|website=Columbia University School of General Studies}}</ref> The same year, the Division of Special Programs, later called the School of Continuing Education and now the [[Columbia University School of Professional Studies|School of Professional Studies]], was established to reprise the former role of University Extension.<ref>{{cite web|title=University Senate|url=http://senate.columbia.edu/archives/resolutions_archives/resolutions/01-02/CEres.htm|access-date=November 24, 2016|website=Senate.columbia.edu|archive-date=February 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170213134229/http://senate.columbia.edu/archives/resolutions_archives/resolutions/01-02/CEres.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> While the School of Professional Studies only offered non-degree programs for lifelong learners and high school students in its earliest stages, it now offers degree programs in a diverse range of professional and inter-disciplinary fields.<ref>{{cite web |title=Our History |url=https://sps.columbia.edu/school/our-history|access-date=November 24, 2016|website=Columbia University School of Professional Studies|archive-date=December 27, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231227043636/https://sps.columbia.edu/school/our-history|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the aftermath of World War II, the discipline of international relations became a major scholarly focus of the university, and in response, the [[Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs|School of International and Public Affairs]] was founded in 1946, drawing upon the resources of the faculties of political science, economics, and history.<ref>{{cite web |title=Looking Out on a City and a World |url=https://www.columbia.edu/content/university-history |access-date=April 23, 2024 |website=Columbia University |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240408163625/https://www.columbia.edu/content/university-history |archive-date=April 8, 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Columbia University Bicentennial]] was celebrated in 1954.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 19, 1953 |title=Columbia Removing 116th St. Pavement |work=The New York Times |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1953/08/19/83852003.html?pageNumber=31 |access-date=July 16, 2022 |archive-date=July 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220718131025/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1953/08/19/83852003.html?pageNumber=31 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

During the 1960s, student activism reached a climax with [[Columbia University protests of 1968|protests in the spring of 1968]], when hundreds of students occupied buildings on campus. The incident forced the resignation of Columbia's president, [[Grayson Kirk]], and the establishment of the University Senate.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kurlansky|first=Mark|url=https://archive.org/details/196800mark/page/194|title=1968: The Year That Rocked The World|publisher=Random House|year=2005|isbn=978-0-345-45582-6|location=New York, New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/196800mark/page/194 194–199]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Bradley|first=Stefan|title=Harlem vs. Columbia University: Black Student Power in the Late 1960s|publisher=University of Illinois|year=2009|isbn=978-0-252-03452-7|location=New York, New York|pages=5–19, 164–191}}</ref>

Though several schools in the university had admitted women for years, Columbia College first admitted women in the fall of 1983,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fiske |first=Edward B. |date=January 23, 1982 |title=Columbia plans to take women beginning in '83 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/23/nyregion/columbia-plans-to-take-women-beginning-in-83.html |access-date=April 28, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428221812/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/23/nyregion/columbia-plans-to-take-women-beginning-in-83.html |url-status=live }}</ref> after a decade of failed negotiations with [[Barnard College]], the all-female institution affiliated with the university, to merge the two schools.<ref>[http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2009/03/31/reception-honors-anniversary-cc-coeducation Reception honors anniversary of CC coeducation | Columbia Daily Spectator] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115064855/http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2009/03/31/reception-honors-anniversary-cc-coeducation |date=January 15, 2021 }}. Columbiaspectator.com. Retrieved on September 7, 2013.</ref> Barnard College still remains affiliated with Columbia, and all Barnard graduates are issued diplomas signed by the [[President of Columbia University|presidents of Columbia University]] and Barnard College.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our Partnership with Columbia University |url=https://barnard.edu/boldly-barnard/columbia-university |access-date=April 23, 2024|website=Barnard College |archive-date=August 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829011912/https://barnard.edu/boldly-barnard/columbia-university |url-status=live}}</ref>

During the late 20th century, the university underwent significant academic, structural, and administrative changes as it developed into a major research university. For much of the 19th century, the university consisted of decentralized and separate faculties specializing in Political Science, Philosophy, and Pure Science. In 1979, these faculties were merged into the [[Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences|Graduate School of Arts and Sciences]].<ref>{{cite web|title=GSAS at a Glance – Columbia University – Graduate School of Arts and Sciences|url=http://gsas.columbia.edu/content/gsas-glance|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140310122351/http://gsas.columbia.edu/content/gsas-glance|archive-date=March 10, 2014|access-date=November 24, 2016}}</ref> In 1991, the faculties of Columbia College, the School of General Studies, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the [[Columbia University School of the Arts|School of the Arts]], and the [[Columbia University School of Professional Studies|School of Professional Studies]] were merged into the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, leading to the academic integration and centralized governance of these schools.

===21st century===

==== Bollinger presidency (2002–2023): Expansion, campaign, and globalization ====
{{citations needed|section|date=March 2025}}
Lee C. Bollinger became Columbia's 19th president in June 2002,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Columbia Daily Spectator 29 May 2002 — Columbia Spectator |url=https://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cs20020529-01&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu}}</ref> succeeding George Rupp.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Columbia Daily Spectator 5 March 2001 — Columbia Spectator |url=https://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cs20010305-01&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu}}</ref> Appointed in October 2001 after arriving from the University of Michigan,<ref name="SpectatorArchive081001">{{Cite web |title=Columbia Daily Spectator 8 October 2001 — Columbia Spectator |url=https://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cs20011008-01.2.6&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Presidents of the University of Michigan |url=https://bentley.umich.edu/legacy-support/um/umpresid.php |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=bentley.umich.edu}}</ref> his presidency emphasized campus expansion, globalization, and science, while navigating national debates.

Key initiatives included the ambitious Manhattanville campus expansion into West Harlem, addressing critical space needs<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lee C. Bollinger's Inaugural Address {{!}} Office of the President |url=https://president.columbia.edu/content/lee-c-bollingers-inaugural-address |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=president.columbia.edu}}</ref> and aiming to build new academic facilities, especially for sciences. Bollinger prioritized [[globalization]], launching the World Leaders Forum<ref name="SpectatorArchive310303">{{Cite web |title=Columbia Daily Spectator 31 March 2003 — Columbia Spectator |url=https://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cs20030331-01&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu}}</ref> and aiming to increase international student numbers.<ref name="SpectatorArchive310303"/> He appointed key leaders like [[Jeffrey Sachs]] ([[The Earth Institute|Earth Institute]]),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Columbia Daily Spectator 8 April 2002 — Columbia Spectator |url=https://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cs20020408-01&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu}}</ref> [[Alan Brinkley]] (Provost),<ref name="SpectatorArchive310303"/> [[Nicholas Lemann]] (Journalism), David Hirsch (Research),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Office of the President Lee C. Bollinger: David Hirsh Appointed Executive Vice President for Research |url=https://www.columbia.edu/cu/president/docs/communications/2003-2004/030725-hirsh-evp-research.html |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.columbia.edu}}</ref> and [[Nicholas Dirks]] (Arts & Sciences),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Office of the President Lee C. Bollinger: Nick Dirks Appointed Vice President for Arts and Sciences |url=https://www.columbia.edu/cu/president/docs/communications/2004-2005/040805-ndirks-announcment.html |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.columbia.edu}}</ref> and planned a Neuroscience Institute.

Bollinger was the defendant in the Supreme Court's 2003 affirmative action cases (''Gratz'' and ''Grutter''), resulting in a split decision.<ref name="SpectatorArchive081001"/><ref name="SpectatorArchive310303"/> He consistently defended free speech principles during campus controversies involving faculty and students.<ref name="SpectatorArchive310303"/>

The Manhattanville expansion plan progressed, entering environmental review and the city's land-use review process. Concerns about eminent domain grew [with Bollinger calling its potential use necessary to secure land for projects like the Greene Science Center, funded by a landmark $200 million gift.

The university publicly launched a record $4 billion capital campaign in September 2006. Financial aid was improved, eliminating loans for undergraduates from families earning under $50,000, supported by a major gift from trustee [[Gerry Lenfest]]. 

Globalization efforts continued with the World Leaders Forum and the creation of the Committee on Global Thought, chaired by [[Joseph Stiglitz]]. Columbia faculty received multiple Nobel Prizes: [[Richard Axel]] and [[Linda B. Buck|Linda Buck]] (Medicine, 2004), [[Edmund Phelps]] (Economics, 2006), and [[Orhan Pamuk]] (Literature, 2006). [[Václav Havel]] joined the faculty.

Controversy erupted over a planned 2006 invitation to Iranian President Ahmadinejad, which was ultimately canceled due to logistical and security issues. Later that year, a campus event featuring Minuteman Project speakers was disrupted by protesters. Bollinger strongly condemned the disruption, reaffirming free speech principles while stating protesters do not have the right to silence speakers. Several students faced disciplinary action, and non-affiliated individuals involved were banned from campus.

The [[2008 financial crisis]] impacted Columbia's endowment, but less than peers as only 13% of the operating budget reliant on the endowment (compared to higher percentages at peers like [[Harvard University|Harvard]]). The endowment recovered, hitting $8.2B in Oct 2013. Despite the downturn, Columbia pressed on with Manhattanville construction, receiving final state approval in June 2009. Major gifts fueled progress, including $400M from [[John Kluge]] upon his death, $50M from the [[Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons|Vagelos]] family for the Medical Center, $100M from [[Henry Kravis]] for the Business School, $30M from Gerry Lenfest for an Arts center, and $200M from [[Mortimer Zuckerman]] for the Mind, Brain, Behavior Institute. 

Following the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the University Senate voted 51–17 to invite [[Reserve Officers' Training Corps|ROTC]] back after a 40-year absence, and Bollinger announced an agreement with the Navy. Columbia expanded its [[Columbia Global Centers|Global Centers]] network (Amman, Beijing, Mumbai, Paris, Nairobi, Istanbul, Santiago), aiming to increase global engagement and international student enrollment (11% in CC in 2011, targeted higher).

From 2014 to 2021, Columbia University pursued significant physical expansion, notably opening major facilities on the Manhattanville campus (ZMBBI, Lenfest Center, The Forum). Key strategic initiatives launched included the [[Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump|Knight First Amendment Institute]], Columbia World Projects, and the new [[Columbia Climate School]] (2020). A $5 billion university capital campaign was launched (with a $1.5B A&S target), major gifts like $50M for A&S's Uris Hall renovation were secured, and the endowment grew significantly ($14.35B by mid-2021). Columbia gynecologist [[Robert Hadden]], indicted in 2014 for sexually assaulting patients and initially avoiding prison through a controversial plea deal amidst criticism of the university's handling, was ultimately federally convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2023.

The COVID-19 pandemic starting March 2020 prompted remote operations, hiring/salary freezes, budget cuts, substantial borrowing (~$700M cited), and unpopular retirement contribution cuts, intensifying financial pressures. In 2022, Columbia's reporting of metrics used for university ranking was criticized by Professor of Mathematics [[Michael Thaddeus]], who argued key data supporting the ranking was "inaccurate, dubious or highly misleading."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hartocollis |first=Anemona |date=March 17, 2022 |title=U.S. News Ranked Columbia No. 2, but a Math Professor Has His Doubts |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/17/us/columbia-university-rank.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511190935/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/17/us/columbia-university-rank.html |archive-date=May 11, 2022 |access-date=May 12, 2022 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Diep |first=Francie |date=March 16, 2022 |title=Columbia Is Ranked No. 2 by 'U.S News.' A Professor Says Its Spot Is Based on False Data. |url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/columbia-is-ranked-no-2-by-u-s-news-a-professor-says-its-spot-is-based-on-false-data |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220421163643/https://www.chronicle.com/article/columbia-is-ranked-no-2-by-u-s-news-a-professor-says-its-spot-is-based-on-false-data |archive-date=April 21, 2022 |access-date=May 12, 2022 |website=[[The Chronicle of Higher Education]]}}</ref> Subsequently, ''U.S. News & World Report'' "unranked" Columbia from its 2022 list of Best Colleges saying that it could not verify the data submitted by the university.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hartocollis |first1=Anemona |date=July 8, 2022 |title=Columbia Loses Its No. 2 Spot in the U.S. News Rankings |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/08/us/us-news-rankings-columbia.html?referringSource=articleShare |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220709165859/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/08/us/us-news-rankings-columbia.html?referringSource=articleShare |archive-date=July 9, 2022 |access-date=July 9, 2022 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> In June 2023, Columbia University announced their undergraduate schools would no longer participate in ''U.S. News & World Report's'' rankings, following the lead of its law, medical and nursing schools. A press release cited concerns that such rankings unduly influence applicants and "distill a university's profile into a composite of data categories."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mueller |first=Julia |date=June 7, 2023 |title=Columbia University no longer submitting data to US News college ranking |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/education/4038410-columbia-university-no-longer-submitting-data-to-us-news-ranking/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607154527/https://thehill.com/homenews/education/4038410-columbia-university-no-longer-submitting-data-to-us-news-ranking/ |archive-date=June 7, 2023 |access-date=June 7, 2023 |website=The Hill |language=en-US}}</ref>

==== Shafik presidency (2023–2024) ====
Beginning in fall 2023, escalating [[2024 Columbia University pro-Palestinian campus occupations|Columbia protests over the Gaza war]], marked by debates on [[Antisemitism at Columbia University|antisemitism]], culminated in a major encampment, the police clearing of Hamilton Hall in April 2024, and President [[Minouche Shafik]]'s subsequent resignation. Shafik was replaced by [[Katrina Armstrong]] as Acting President.<ref name=actingpres>{{cite web | url=https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2025/03/29/heres-what-to-know-about-claire-shipman-columbias-new-acting-president/ | title=Here's what to know about Claire Shipman, Columbia's new acting president }}</ref>

==== 2025 ====
Following critical reports on [[Antisemitism at Columbia University|antisemitism]], campus conflict continued into 2025 as the [[Second presidency of Donald Trump|second Trump administration]] threatened to revoke federal funding and demanded policy changes, prompting student expulsions, arrests of Palestinian students and alumni, and new university disciplinary measures. On March 21, 2025, university leaders agreed to the government's demands to "overhaul disciplinary processes, ban masks at protests, add 36 officers with the authority to make arrests and appoint a new senior vice provost to oversee academic programs focused on the Middle East" among other demands.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/governance/executive-leadership/2025/03/21/columbia-agrees-trumps-demands| title=Columbia Agrees to Trump's Demands |work=[[Inside Higher Ed]] |first=Josh |last=Moody |date=March 21, 2025 |accessdate=April 14, 2025}}</ref> The university's capitulation has not resulted in the withheld $400 million being restored.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/governance/executive-leadership/2025/04/14/harvard-resists-trumps-demands |title=Harvard Resists Trump's Demands |work=[[Inside Higher Ed]] |first=Josh |last=Moody |date=April 14, 2025 |accessdate=April 14, 2025}}</ref> On March 28, 2025, [[Claire Shipman]] was named new Acting President.<ref name=actingpres/>