General
Columbia Violated Jewish Students’ Civil Rights, Trump Administration Finds
The university has previously been the target of more $400 million in federal funding cuts.
Columbia University violated civil rights law by “acting with deliberate indifference” toward harassment against Jewish students, the Health and Human Services Department said Thursday night, the Trump administration’s latest accusation of antisemitism against the school.
No new action against Columbia, one of the nation’s most prominent universities, was included in Thursday’s announcement. The finding of a civil rights violation often precedes consequences. In Columbia’s case, the administration has already suspended more than $400 million in grants and contracts. It was not immediately clear whether the administration would seek further penalties.
The Trump administration has been attempting to change the culture of American higher education by withholding federal funding, contending that some schools have become bastions of antisemitism and ideological indoctrination. A handful of elite universities, including Columbia and Harvard, have been particular targets.
