The Trump administration announced that it had cancelled roughly $400 million worth of grants and contracts to Columbia University, citing how the university “has abandoned” the obligation to “comply with all federal antidiscrimination laws” in order to receive federal funding.
In a press release from the United States General Services Administration (GSA), the Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Education (DoE), and GSA noted that the cancellation of $400 million worth of federal grants and contracts to the university comes as the school has failed to act “in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.”
“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 the Department of Education Linda McMahon explained 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.”
In the spring of 2024, an anti-Israel encampment was established on the lawn of Columbia University. While, several students ended up being suspended and hundreds more protesters ended up being arrested over the involvement in the encampment, a second encampment was established and remained until the end of April when the New York Police Department conducted a raid on the encampment.
Other encampments were established at Yale University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), George Washington University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, among others in support of the encampment at Columbia University.
The press release noted:
The decisive action by the DOJ, HHS, ED, and GSA to cancel Columbia’s grants and contracts serves as a notice to every school and university that receives federal dollars that this administration will use all the tools at its disposal to protect Jewish students and end anti-Semitism on college campuses.
“GSA will assist HHS and ED in issuing stop-work orders on grants and contracts that Columbia holds with those agencies,” the press release added. “These stop-work order will immediately freeze the university’s access to these funds.”
“Anti-Semitism is clearly inconsistent with the fundamental values that should inform liberal education,” Sean Keveney, the acting general counsel for the HHS said in a statement.
As Breitbart News’s Joel Pollak previously reported, President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January requiring “all executive agencies to identify ongoing actions against antisemitism, as well as actions that can be taken, within 60 days.”
The executive order also “directs certain agencies to push colleges and universities to monitor activities of ‘alien students and staff’ who are involved in antisemitic protests.”
