Columbia University stands to lose over $5 billion in federal contracts and grants as it is under investigation by federal agencies for “inaction” regarding the harassment of Jewish students on campus.
It has been almost a year since protests broke out on Columbia’s campus over Palestinians in Gaza. Some protesters called for the death of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and reportedly targeted Jewish students with threats.
The Health and Human Services Department, Education Department, and General Services Administration will determine whether the university violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by allowing the protests to escalate to antisemitism. This will be the multiagency task force’s first act under President Donald Trump’s executive order on measures to combat antisemitism.
“Given Columbia’s ongoing inaction in the face of relentless harassment of Jewish students, the Federal Government’s Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is considering Stop Work Orders for $51.4 million in contracts between Columbia University and the Federal Government,” a joint press release read. “The task force will also conduct a comprehensive review of the more than $5 billion in federal grant commitments to Columbia University to ensure the university is in compliance with federal regulations, including its civil rights responsibilities.”
The Washington Examiner reached Columbia for comment.
“Institutions that receive federal funds have a responsibility to protect all students from discrimination,” Education Secretary 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.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. explained that his department is involved in the matter because antisemitism is “a spiritual and moral malady that sickens societies and kills people with lethalities comparable to history’s most deadly plagues.”
“Making America healthy means building communities of trust and mutual respect, based on speech freedom and open debate,” Kennedy said.
“All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Monday. “Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on the crime, arrested.”
In April last year, 117 protesters were arrested on Columbia’s campus. The mass arrests led to the New York City Police Department deploying its counterterrorism unit on campus.
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Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) visited Columbia shortly after the scuffle between protesters and police and defended the “students that just wanted to raise their voice in an attempt to end the genocide that’s happening in Gaza.”
Omar’s daughter Isra identified herself as one of the protesters arrested on Columbia’s campus and confirmed she was suspended due to the arrest. Other students were likely suspended, but Columbia did not reveal how many of those arrested were associated with the university.
