The US Department of Education said on Wednesday that it had notified Columbia University's accreditor of a violation of federal anti-discrimination laws by the Ivy League school.
This violation, the department said, means that Columbia has failed to meet the standards of accreditation set by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
In a statement, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said that “After Hamas’ October 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel, Columbia University’s leadership acted with deliberate indifference towards the harassment of Jewish students on its campus. This is not only immoral, but also unlawful.
"Accreditors have an enormous public responsibility as gatekeepers of federal student aid. They determine which institutions are eligible for federal student loans and Pell Grants. Just as the Department of Education has an obligation to uphold federal antidiscrimination law, university accreditors have an obligation to ensure member institutions abide by their standards,” said McMahon.
McMahon concluded, stating that the Education Department looks forward, "to the Commission keeping the Department fully informed of actions taken to ensure Columbia’s compliance with accreditation standards, including compliance with federal civil rights laws.”
Violation of Title VI
In May, the Trump administration's Health and Human Services Department (HHS)'s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that "Columbia University violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by 'acting with deliberate indifference towards student-on-student harassment of Jewish students," The Jerusalem Post previously reported.
"OCR’s Notice of Violation articulates extensive factual findings that span a period of over 19 months in which the University continually failed to protect Jewish students," since October 7, 2023, according to a statement.
In an investigation, the OCR discovered that Columbia did not establish effective mechanisms for reporting and remediating antisemitism.
This included failing to adhere to its policies when responding to complaints from Jewish students, not investigating or punishing acts of vandalism such as swastikas drawn in classrooms, and not enforcing restrictions on pro-Palestinian protests across campus since October 7.