Colleges and universities being investigated for their responses to campus antisemitism now risk losing federal funding, the Trump administration warned. The first target is Columbia University.
Columbia, which was placed under investigation earlier this year, now faces a more comprehensive—and financially impactful—review. The Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. General Services Administration accuse the Ivy League institution of “ongoing inaction in the face of relentless harassment of Jewish students.”
The Trump administration’s Task Force to Combat Antisemitism is considering canceling $51.4 million in federal contracts with Columbia. The task force is also scrutinizing more than $5 billion in federal grants “to ensure the university is in compliance with federal regulations.”
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“Institutions that receive federal funds have a responsibility to protect all students from discrimination,” newly-confirmed Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement. “Columbia’s apparent failure to uphold their end of this basic agreement raises very serious questions about the institution’s fitness to continue doing business with the United States government.”
Columbia University replied on its website that it will review the announcement: “Columbia is fully committed to combatting antisemitism and all forms of discrimination, and we are resolute that calling for, promoting, or glorifying violence or terror has no place at our University. We look forward to ongoing work with the new federal administration to fight antisemitism.”
Campus anti-Semitism in the crosshairs
In February, the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights launched Title IV investigations of Columbia and four other schools: Northwestern University, Portland State University, the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. This week’s announcement of further actions against Columbia included none of those institutions.
“Too many universities have tolerated widespread antisemitic harassment and the illegal encampments that paralyzed campus life last year, driving Jewish life and religious expression underground,” said Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights.
