Following the announcement, Columbia suspended four students arrested after storming a Barnard building
The Trump administration’s multi-agency task force to combat anti-Semitism announced the immediate cancellation of approximately $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University over its failure to curb campus anti-Semitism in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel.
The departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, and Education, along with the General Services Administration, announced the move Friday. Two days earlier, Columbia student radicals stormed a Barnard College campus building—the second time in a week. Within hours of the funding cuts, Columbia suspended its four students who had been arrested while clashing with police during Wednesday’s incident.
“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 Education Linda McMahon said. “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. Today, we demonstrate to Columbia and other universities that we will not tolerate their appalling inaction any longer.”
It’s possible more cuts are coming. The Trump administration’s newly formed multi-agency Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism announced Monday that it was probing $5 billion worth of Columbia’s federal funding and threatened to issue stop orders affecting over $51 million in active contracts.
“Freezing the funds is one of the tools we are using to respond to this spike in anti-Semitism. This is only the beginning,” the task force’s head, Leo Terrell, said. “Cancelling these taxpayer funds is our strongest signal yet that the Federal Government is not going to be party to an educational institution like Columbia that does not protect Jewish students and staff.”
Columbia receives over $1 billion in federal research grants, accounting for nearly one-fifth of its overall $6.6 billion in yearly operating revenue, according to a 2024 report by the Trustees of Columbia.
“We are reviewing the announcement from the federal agencies and pledge to work with the federal government to restore Columbia’s federal funding,” a Columbia spokeswoman told the Washington Free Beacon. “We take Columbia’s legal obligations seriously and understand how serious this announcement is and are committed to combatting antisemitism and ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our students, faculty, and staff.”
On Wednesday, Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) and Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)—the Ivy League institution’s most anti-Semitic student groups—led a mob that stormed a Barnard College library on Wednesday. Once inside, the agitators handed out Hamas propaganda justifying the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack. They demanded the immediate reversal of the recent expulsions of three Barnard students, “amnesty for all students disciplined for pro-Palestine action,” and a complete “abolition of the corrupt Barnard disciplinary process.”
The Barnard administration allowed the police to clear the building after the radicals refused to leave when a bomb threat was called in. The agitators clashed with police in the courtyard outside, resulting in nine arrests. Four of those were Columbia students, while one attended Barnard.
A week earlier, on Feb. 26, CUAD and SJP led another mob into a different Barnard building, sending a security guard to the hospital and causing $30,000 in damages.
After the anti-Semitism task force announced its probe, Columbia president Katrina Armstrong said, “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.”
Last week the task force announced that Columbia was among 10 schools it would visit to meet with university leadership and impacted students to determine whether any disciplinary actions are justified for the school’s failure to shield Jewish students and staff from illegal discrimination.
