The policies that May Mailman has helped devise have sent shock waves through higher education, dividing faculty and alarming some students who see an effort to silence dissent.

Top academics in the Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies Department at Columbia University, including Professors Timothy Mitchell and Gil Hochberg, the department’s chair, say the school is committed to the program’s autonomy.

Columbia University administrators summoned the Police Department on Wednesday to arrest demonstrators who had occupied the main library.

Students protesting outside the gates to Columbia University, where some temporarily locked themselves to the gates in New York City, on Monday.

Dr. Noor Abdalla, wife of Mahmoud Khalil, at her home in New York, last month. She went into labor Sunday.

In some cases, the Trump administration has said existing federal law already gives the president all the power he needs to act.

Major universities have made it their mission to embrace diversity and expand their reach in the world. The Trump administration would like them to do the opposite.

College administrators throughout the country are closely watching whether Columbia responds to the White House with deference or defiance.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is eliminating tuition starting next fall for all undergraduate students from families earning less than $200,000 per year.

Coleman Hughes in Queens, N.Y., on Tuesday. Mr. Hughes has emerged as something of a rarity in the tense national conversation over how race should factor into public policy.

Hillary Clinton and her teaching partner at Columbia University, Professor Keren Yarhi-Milo, paused a lecture to allow students to take photographs.