The Trump administration has cancelled $400 million in federal grants to Columbia University for its alleged failure to protect “Jewish students” and address pro-Gaza sit-ins last year.
The decision was announced on Friday in a joint statement by the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, and the U.S. General Services Administration.
A working group formed by the four bodies claimed that the funding was cut “due to the school's continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students,” NPR reported.
The announcement came after the Columbia University in New York City established a new committee tasked with investigating students critical of the Israeli regime’s actions, a move that has raised concerns about freedom of speech, according to CNN.
Despite setting up the committee, the federal government accused the university of abandoning its “obligation to Jewish students studying on its campus.”
Universities across the United States were the scene of weeks-long protests by students who protested against Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.
They urged U.S. authorities to halt military, financial and political support for the Israeli regime, saying that the assistance made Washington complicit in the Gaza war. The students also called on their universities to cut financial and scientific ties with Israel. Those protests were met with a heavy-handed crackdown by U.S. police, and the Trump administration now accuses the protesting students of supporting Hamas.
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