Trump Admin Cuts $400M In Federal Funding To Columbia University In Light Of Anti-Semitism Concerns

(L) Columbia students organize rallies both for Palestine on one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack, on October 7, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Alex Kent/Getty Images) / (R) Pro-Palestinian demonstrators march through the Columbia University campus to mark one year of the war between Hamas and Israel in New York City on October 7, 2024.

On Friday, the Trump administration revoked over $400 million in contracts and grants for Columbia University, arguing that the Ivy League university had violated anti-discrimination regulations.

Roughly 8% of the university’s U.S. government funding was being withdrawn, according to a federal anti-Semitic task force that President Trump assembled — including representatives from the General Services Administration (GSA), the Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education.

“Since October 7, Jewish students have faced relentless violence, intimidation, and anti-Semitic harassment on their campuses — only to be ignored by those who are supposed to protect them,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement.

“Universities must comply with all federal antidiscrimination laws if they are going to receive federal funding. 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 Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism also stated in their announcement that more funding reductions are likely coming in the future.

“Columbia has an antisemitism crisis, and for months, I have worked with faculty, staff, students, parents, and alumni to urge the administration to act quickly to address this crisis and avoid lasting damage to the University,” said Brian Cohen, executive Director of Columbia and Barnard’s Hillel chapter.

“I hope this federal action is a wake-up call to Columbia’s administration and trustees to take antisemitism and the harassment of Jewish students and faculty seriously so that these grants can be restored, the vital work of the University can continue, and that Columbia can become, once again, a place where the Jewish community thrives.”

The funding and contracts that were revoked were not immediately made public by the joint task group.

The DOJ, HHS, and Education Department have also given the GSA the authority to impose “stop-work orders” on the hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants that Columbia has received.

Earlier this week, federal officials indicated that contracts totaling at least $51.4 million were prepared for termination.

The Ivy League university is now reviewing more than $5 billion in funding commitments from the federal government.

After a string of anti-Semitic incidents on campus and an ongoing federal civil rights investigation, an audit of Columbia’s finances was initiated on Monday.

“We are reviewing the announcement from the federal agencies and pledge to work with the federal government to restore Columbia’s federal funding,” a university spokesperson told The Post in a statement.

“We take Columbia’s legal obligations seriously and understand how serious this announcement is and are committed to combating antisemitism and ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our students, faculty, and staff.”

Meanwhile, the university has “not responded” yet to the anti-Semitism task force’s requests for information required for a Title VI investigation, which refers to the part of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 that forbids discrimination on the grounds of race, color, and national origin in programs that receive federal funding.

“Anti-Semitism is clearly inconsistent with the fundamental values that should inform liberal education,” stated Sean Keveney, HHS Acting General Counsel and a task force member. 

“Columbia University’s complacency is unacceptable.”

On “Fox and Friends” on Friday morning, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon noted that the Columbia investigation by the Office of Civil Rights in the Education Department was one of “five investigations now into different universities, to make sure that they are not allowing antisemitism.”

The University of Minnesota, the University of California, Berkeley, Portland State University, and Northwestern University are the other institutions being probed.

“To allow this kind of unrest, this is not about freedom of speech,” the education secretary said of the universities’ conduct. “They have to quell these uprisings and not allow faculty to be attacked or other students to be attacked.”

Following Hamas’ October 7^th, 2023, attack on Israel, the Morningside Heights campus at Columbia saw anti-Semitic abuse and intimidation for over a year. Toward the end of the spring semester in 2024, protesters swarmed Columbia and established a tent city. They then took over the famous Hamilton Hall building before the NYPD forced them to leave.

The results of a damning House Republican report released in December also showed that only four kids were suspended and none of the pupils who took part were expelled.

“Columbia said the 22 students arrested for the criminal takeover of Hamilton Hall would face expulsion. Instead, the University lifted the students’ interim suspensions after pushback from radical faculty, allowing 7 to graduate, restoring 11 to good standing, and leaving 3 with preexisting sanctions suspended and 1 on probation,” according to the report, whose contents were first revealed by The Post.

Hamas, the terrorist group themselves, even openly voiced support for the Columbia protests by the undergraduates.

“We in the Hamas movement believe that any popular movement demanding an end to the aggression and genocide against our people are useful and supportive activities for our cause,” a Hamas spokesman Bassem Naim told Newsweek.

Meanwhile, the pro-Israel watchdog group StopAntisemitism commented on the surfacing news as well.

“The era of the federal government enabling Jew-hatred is over,” declared the watchdog group StopAntisemitism. “We applaud the Trump Administration for heeding our calls to defund Columbia University and urge this to be just the first of many decisive actions.”

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