The Trump administration threatened Monday to pull more than $50 million in government contracts it has with Columbia University — pointing to the Ivy League school’s alleged inaction to get a handle on anti-Israel protests that have targeted Jewish students.
Federal officials announced they were considering placing “Stop Work Orders” on $51.4 million worth of contracts and reviewing more than $5 billion in federal grant commitments tied to the Big Apple university to ensure the rights of Jewish students are being met.
“Anti-Semitism – like racism – is a spiritual and moral malady that sickens societies and kills people with lethalities comparable to history’s most deadly plagues,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a statement.
The looming warning to the school is part of an ongoing investigation into possible civil rights violations and comes after President Trump formed the Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism when he got into office in January to fight against vile hate being carried out on college campuses.
Newly minted Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement Monday that since the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Americans have “watched in horror” as Jewish students have been assaulted and harassed at elite colleges.
“Unlawful encampments and demonstrations have completely paralyzed day-to-day campus operations, depriving Jewish students of learning opportunities to which they are entitled,” she said.
Columbia said it was reviewing the federal government’s message and hoped to work with the White House to fight antisemitism.
“Columbia 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,” the school stated Monday night.
Columbia has been the center of abhorrent demonstrations in opposition to Israel since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on the Jewish state that erupted into a wider conflict.
Protesters camped out on the campus green and even occupied a school building last spring – both times requiring NYPD action.
Masked students also stormed a Columbia class on modern Israel and tossed around hateful leaflets in January. At least two Barnard students were expelled following the disruption, an anti-Israel group said.
The co-founder of Columbia’s Jewish Alumni Association, Ari Shrage, told The Post that Columbia hasn’t done enough to discipline student protesters who have upended the campus life for Jewish pupils.
“Now the government is showing Columbia that they mean business,” Shrage said.
“The only question is if Columbia’s leaders will finally take action or make matters worse by ignoring the discrimination that Jewish students have faced for the past year and a half.”
Columbia senior Eliana Goldin also welcomed the growing federal pressure.
“I’m not a fan of government intervention,” she said. “But when nothing else works, I can appreciate the strategy.”
