Feds Yank $400 Million from Columbia University Following Continued Antisemitism

by Emily Washburn | March 7, 2025 | Culture

Columbia University lost $400 million in government grants and contracts today for failing to address campus antisemitism, four federal agencies have announced.

“Universities must comply with all federal antidiscrimination laws if they are going to receive federal funding,” Linda McMahon, the Secretary of Education, wrote in a press release announcing the cuts, continuing:

For too long, Columbia has abandoned that obligation to Jewish students studying on its campus. Today, we demonstrate to Columbia and other universities that we will not tolerate their appalling inaction any longer.

The Department of Education (ED) is one of four federal departments, including the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Justice (DOJ), comprising the Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism (Task Force).

The group coalesced on February 3 to carry out “Additional Measures to Combat Antisemitism,” an executive order directing the federal government to “vigorously, using all available and appropriate tools, prosecute, remove or otherwise hold to account the perpetrators of unlawful antisemitic harassment and violence.”

On Monday, the Task Force launched investigations into ten universities accused of Title IV civil rights complaints: Columbia, George Washington, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, New York, Northwestern, UCLA, U. of Minnesota and U. of Southern California.

It’s no surprise Columbia topped investigators’ list. Some of the most virulent acts of public antisemitism in the past year have occurred on its campus, including:

A “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” that frequently devolved into violence and sparked similar protests on campuses across the nation.
The “occupation” of Hamilton Hall, in which pro-Hamas students took over and vandalized a college building and assaulted employees inside. More than 200 people were subsequently arrested, though few experienced tangible consequences.
A museum-style exhibition celebrating Hamas. The two-day event included, among other horrors, a poetry reading “borrowing” from Yahya Sinwar, the deceased Hamas leader behind the October 7, 2023 massacre of more than 1,200 Israeli citizens.

The latter prompted two Jewish students, Shoshanna Aufzien and Alon Levin, to file a Title IV civil rights complaint against the school.

Title IV prohibits federally funded institutions and activities from discriminating based on race, color or national origin. These protections extend to the creation of “hostile environments,” which ED defines:

When a school staff, a student or another person engages in unwelcome conduct based on race, color or national origin that … is subjectively and objectively offensive and is so severe or pervasive that it limits or denies a person’s ability to participate in or benefit from the recipient’s education program or activity.

The environment at Columbia has remained decidedly hostile this year.

On January 21, the first day of the semester, two students busted into a History of Modern Israel class and distributed flyers showing a boot stomping on the Star of David.

Last week, on February 26, dozens of pro-Hamas protesters took over a building at Columbia-affiliated Barnard College. According to a college spokesperson, the protesters “physically assaulted” an employee in the building, leaving them hospitalized.

Two days ago, 200 students took over Barnard’s Milstein library, preventing people from entering and “chanting anti-Israel slogans through bullhorns,” The New York Post reports. The stunt left nine protesters in handcuffs. Four were Columbia students.

This latest in a long chain of violent, hateful protests seemed prompt the Task Force to chop Columbia’s federal funding. The group noted in its press release that, even after it began its investigation, “chaos and antisemitic harassment have continued on and near campus in the days since.”

The Task Force also foreshadowed further cuts into Columbia’s whopping $5 billion federal grant endowment.

“These [$400 million in] cancellations represent the first round of action and additional cancellations are expected to follow,” the press release reads, continuing,

President Trump has been clear that any college or university that allows illegal protests and repeatedly fails to protect students from anti-Semitic harassment on campus will be subject to the loss of federal funding.

A 2024 report from Columbia itself admits it likely violated Jewish students’ civil rights during the year’s pro-Hamas protests,

Some [documented complaints], though not all, suggest violations of federal and state law. In such cases, Columbia should provide follow-up, investigation and rigor in dealing with inappropriate behavior toward targeted groups. The frequent failures to do so, documented here, point to the troubling use of inconsistent standards which reinforce the need for specific change.

Antisemitism is evil. Columbia has allowed it to rule its campus, and the lives of its students, for going on a year. This author’s glad to see the university face the music.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says it best,

Antisemitism — like racism — 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.

Here’s to eradicating disease in Columbia, and to a healthier future for American universities.

Additional Articles and Resources

Antisemitism at Columbia Alive and Well

New York Drops Charges Against Pro-Hamas Protesters Who Stormed Hamilton Hall

INVESTIGATION: Who funds anti-Israel protests?

Jewish Students Urged to Flee Columbia University Following Antisemitic Protest

Antisemitism — What It Is and Its Connection to the Israel-Hamas War

Israel is Under Attack—Here’s Why Christians Should Support Its Defense