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Education secretary Linda McMahon said Columbia’s “unlawful encampments and demonstrations” deprived Jewish students of learning opportunities.
Mary Altaffer-Pool/Getty Images
The Trump administration appears to be rolling out new tactics for going after colleges that have been accused of perpetuating antisemitism on campus, announcing on Monday that it may halt Columbia University’s contracts with the federal government.
The announcement, issued jointly by the Department of Health and Human Services, the General Services Administration and the Department of Education, said that the departments are beginning a review of the contracts, worth a total of $54.1 million, “in light of ongoing investigations for potential violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.” They also plan to review Columbia’s more than $5 billion in federal grants.
The investigation is the “first major action” of the administration’s Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, which Trump established through an executive order early in February and which, last Friday, announced investigators would visit 10 campuses, including Columbia, to investigate purported antisemitism.
In Monday’s announcement, Linda McMahon, who had been sworn in as education secretary just hours earlier, said that over the past year and several months, “unlawful encampments and demonstrations have completely paralyzed day-to-day campus operations, depriving Jewish students of learning opportunities to which they are entitled. Institutions that receive federal funds have a responsibility to protect all students from discrimination. Columbia’s apparent failure to uphold their end of this basic agreement raises very serious questions about the institution’s fitness to continue doing business with the United States government.”
Also in the announcement, HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attributed the rise in antisemitism on colleges campuses to “woke cancel culture.”
Columbia has been at the center of the debate over campus antisemitism since spring 2024, when pro-Palestinian student protesters erected an encampment of tents aimed at persuading the university to divest from companies affiliated with Israel, sparking a national movement but attracting strong opposition from critics, who accused protesters of intimidating Jewish students and spouting antisemitic hatred.
Now, as Trump begins his promised crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters, it seems that Columbia will be in the spotlight once again.
In a statement, Columbia said that the institution “is fully committed to combatting antisemitism and all forms of discrimination, and we are resolute that calling for, promoting, or glorifying violence or terror has no place at our University. We look forward to ongoing work with the new federal administration to fight antisemitism, and we will continue to make all efforts to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our students, faculty, and staff.”
The day after announcing the review of Columbia’s federal grants and contracts, Trump doubled down on social media, posting to the conservative site Truth Social that colleges and universities that allow “illegal protests” would be at risk of losing federal funding. The threat has been condemned by free speech advocates, who argue that such claims are certain to lead to campuses cracking down on protests, chilling political speech on campus.
