US President Donald Trump's administration has canceled grants and contracts totaling $400 million to Columbia University due to "inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students," the Education Department announced on Friday.
"These cancelations represent the first round of action and additional cancelations are expected to follow," the Education Department said in its statement.
The university holds over $5 billion in federal grant funding.
The president of the university was informed on Monday that the Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism would conduct a comprehensive review of the university's federal contracts and grants.
Columbia was at the center of college protests in which demonstrators demanded an end to US support for Israel.
There were allegations of antisemitism and Islamophobia in protests and counterprotests. Columbia has previously said it made efforts to tackle antisemitism.
Intimidation, violence, and harassment of Jewish students on campus
“Since October 7, Jewish students have faced relentless violence, intimidation, and antisemitic harassment on their campuses – only to be ignored by those who are supposed to protect them,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said.
“Universities must comply with all federal anti-discrimination 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,” McMahon stated.
Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney-General for Civil Rights and head of the task force Leo Terrell said that this act was only the beginning.
“Doing business with the federal government is a privilege,” Josh Gruenbaum, FAS Commissioner and task force member, said.
“Columbia University, through their continued and shameful inaction to stop radical protestors from taking over buildings on campus and lack of response to the safety issues for Jewish students, and for that matter - all students - are not upholding the ideals of this administration or the American people.
"Columbia cannot expect to retain the privilege of receiving federal taxpayer dollars if they will not fulfill their civil rights responsibilities to protect Jewish students from harassment and antisemitism,” his statement added.
Columbia responded to MSNBC, saying, "We are reviewing the announcement from the federal agencies and pledge to work with the federal government to restore Columbia's funding."
"We take Columbia's legal obligations seriously and understand how serious this announcement is, and are committed to combatting antisemitism and ensuring the wellbeing and safety of our students, faculty, and staff," the university added.
Antisemitism at Columbia
Antisemitism at Columbia has been a concern to some US officials since before the Trump administration took power. Joe Biden's former antisemitism envoy Deborah Lipstadt recently announced she withdrew her name from consideration for a teaching post at Columbia University due to the school’s handling of antisemitism - although former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was recently appointed as a Carnegie Distinguished Fellow at Columbia University’s Institute of Global Politics.
Over the past 16 months, some pro-Palestinian activists have seemingly taken more extreme action to further their cause - such as disrupting lessons and assaulting staff to such a degree that they would require hospitalization.
The actions have seemingly come from staff as well as students with one professor, accused of harassing Israeli students, being quietly removed from the university last month.
Columbia University Professor Katherine Franke left the institution after an investigation concluded that she had violated university policy in comments that were said to have amounted to harassment of Israeli Columbia members. Franke confirmed in a statement on Friday.
Describing leaving the university as “termination dressed up in more palatable terms,” Franke said an agreement had been reached but claimed the university had become a “toxic and hostile environment” when it came to issues relating to Israel and Gaza.
When issues of antisemitism were raised with the university, a number of senior staff members were caught mocking the Jewish students. This led some to be removed from their positions in July.
Some Jewish professors have also left the school after colleagues openly praised Hamas's October 7 massacre, in which 1200 people, some of whom were US citizens, were murdered.