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The Trump administration announced Friday that it is revoking $400 million in grants to Columbia University in New York, citing the university’s failure to take sufficient action against antisemitism on campus following Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack.
“This is just the beginning of the process,” stated the administration’s newly established task force on combating antisemitism, which is leading the move. The task force added that all federal funding to Columbia—totaling $5 billion—is now under review.
The decision comes just days after President Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he would cut funding to universities that allow illegal protests.
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Anti-Israel protests in Barnard College
(Video: Eliana Goldin)
Brian Cohen, executive director of Columbia/Barnard Hillel, responded to the funding freeze, saying, “Columbia has an antisemitism crisis. I hope this federal action serves as a wake-up call for the administration and the board of trustees to take antisemitism and the harassment of Jewish students and faculty seriously. That way, grants can be restored, Columbia can continue its vital work, and the university can once again be a place where the Jewish community thrives.”
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Pro-Palestinian protesters barricade themselves at Barnard College Columbia University
(Photo: Eliana Goldin)
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Meanwhile, Barnard College, Columbia’s women’s college, has introduced unprecedented security measures following the evacuation of a pro-Palestinian protest inside the campus library, which was disrupted by a bomb threat later deemed unfounded. Under the new rules, students must remove masks upon entering the library, undergo bag checks, and present student IDs for campus access.
The evacuation occurred after a group of protesters took over the library, prompting the New York Police Department to enter and arrest at least ten demonstrators. Barnard’s student government condemned the police intervention, arguing that the administration had “broken a long-standing promise” not to invite law enforcement onto campus.
These developments come amid ongoing demonstrations at Columbia, which has become a key hub for the pro-Palestinian protest movement in the United States.