Columbia University last week settled a lawsuit brought by a former international student who says the school failed to protect him.

The settlement follows a complaint by former student Paul Nungesser of Germany, who said the New York school allowed a student to carry a mattress around the university, accusing Nungesser of being a rapist.

This happened, Nungesser’s lawyers said, even though Nungesser was cleared by Columbia of wrongdoing.

Columbia University said Nungesser’s time at Columbia had “became very difficult for him and not what Columbia would want any of its students to experience.” Columbia said Nungesser is now attending a film school in Germany.

The woman who accused Nungesser of rape had charged Columbia of being “more concerned about their public image than keeping people safe.”

Announcement of the Columbia settlement comes as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos decides how to balance the interests of sexual assault victims against those accused of sexual assault.

DeVos says she is considering changing federal rules established by the Obama administration to enforce a law known as Title IX that covers sexual assaults at American colleges.

“We need to get this right. We need to protect all students. And we need to do it quickly,” she told reporters last week. “It’s obvious the toll this places on everyone involved.”

Demonstrators warn about weakening rules

Maya Weinstein, 23, and others demonstrated outside the Education Department last week as DeVos met with sexual assault victims and people who said they were falsely accused of sexual assault.

Weinstein said she was raped by a fellow student during her first year at George Washington University in Washington D.C.

“It is interesting to me how sexual assault is viewed as a different issue than any other crime,” Weinstein told VOA. “The false reporting statistics are comparable to that of someone saying they were robbed and we don’t question those who come forward to say they were robbed.”

According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, between two percent and eight percent of sexual assault charges are false, comparable to other crimes.

Devos, who was named education secretary by President Donald Trump, has said rules established by the Obama administration might not protect the rights of people falsely accused. She spoke about her “listening session” on July 13 with students who say they were falsely accused.

“It was clear that their stories have not often been told, and that there are lives that have been ruined and lives that are lost in the process,” she said.

But DeVos also said sexual assault is a serious problem.

“We can’t go back to the days when allegations were swept under the rug,” DeVos said, meaning failing to fully investigate charges of sexual assault.

Alyssa Peterson said she was a victim of sexual assault while a student at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. Like many victims, she decided not to bring charges against her attacker because she was not confident the process would be fair.

A 2015 report by the Association of American Universities (AAU) said that half of college students did not report incidents of sexual assault because they did not think it was "serious enough." Others said they were embarrassed or thought "nothing would be done."

AAU is an organization that studies issues of higher education.

Even with the stronger Obama administration guidelines, punishment for sexual assault remain weak, Peterson said. She said few students are removed from college for sexually assaulting fellow students. Peterson is a Yale University law school student and working with a group, Know Your Title IX, which supports student victims of sexual assault.

Official apologizes for comments

Just before last week’s listening session, Candice Jackson, the Education Department’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights, apologized for remarks she had made about sexual assault.

Jackson told The New York Times that 90 percent of sexual assault charges involve two drunken students and a student deciding “our last sleeping together was not quite right.”

“What I said was flippant, and I am sorry,” Jackson said, adding that she was a rape victim.

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The Trump administration is opening new investigations into allegations of antisemitism at five U.S. universities including Columbia and the University of California, Berkeley, the Education Department announced Monday.

It's part of President Donald Trump's promise to take a tougher stance against campus antisemitism and deal out harsher penalties than the Biden administration, which settled a flurry of cases with universities in its final weeks. It comes the same day the Justice Department announced a new task force to root out antisemitism on college campuses.

In an order signed last week, Trump called for aggressive action to fight anti-Jewish bias on campuses, including the deportation of foreign students who have participated in pro-Palestinian protests.

Along with Columbia and Berkeley, the department is now investigating the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University and Portland State University. The cases were opened using the department's power to launch its own civil rights reviews, unlike the majority of investigations, which stem from complaints.

Messages seeking comment were left with all five universities.
A statement from the Education Department criticized colleges for tolerating antisemitism after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and a wave of pro-Palestinian protests that followed. It also criticized the Biden administration for negotiating "toothless" resolutions that failed to hold schools accountable.

"Today, the Department is putting universities, colleges, and K-12 schools on notice: this administration will not tolerate continued institutional indifference to the wellbeing of Jewish students on American campuses," said Craig Trainor, the agency's acting assistant secretary for civil rights.

The department didn't provide details about the inquiries or how it decided which schools are being targeted. Presidents of Columbia and Northwestern were among those called to testify on Capitol Hill last year as Republicans sought accountability for allegations of antisemitism. The hearings contributed to the resignation of multiple university presidents, including Columbia's Minouche Shafik.

An October report from House Republicans accused Columbia of failing to punish pro-Palestinian students who took over a campus building, and it called Northwestern's negotiations with student protesters a "stunning capitulation."

House Republicans applauded the new investigations. Representative Tim Walberg, chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, said he was "glad that we finally have an administration who is taking action to protect Jewish students."

Trump's order also calls for a full review of antisemitism complaints filed with the Education Department since Oct. 7, 2023, including pending and resolved cases from the Biden administration. It encourages the Justice Department to take action to enforce civil rights laws.

Last week's order drew backlash from civil rights groups who said it violated First Amendment rights that protect political speech.

The new task force announced Monday includes the Justice and Education departments along with Health and Human Services.

"The Department takes seriously our responsibility to eradicate this hatred wherever it is found," said Leo Terrell, assistant attorney general for civil rights. "The Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is the first step in giving life to President Trump's renewed commitment to ending anti-Semitism in our schools."

The Times of India breaks down the most popular subjects for international students to study in the U.S.

STEM and business lead the pack. Read the full story here. (January 2025)

U.S. News & World report addresses some of the misconceptions about U.S. colleges and universities, including the difficulty of getting a visa.

Read the full story here. (January 2025)

US News & World Report details the three top factors in foreign students' decision to study in the U.S. They include research opportunities and the reputation of U.S. degrees. Read the full story here. (December 2024)