March 7 (UPI) — Federal authorities officially canceled $400 million worth of grants to Columbia University on Friday, citing the school’s reaction to pro-Palestinian protests on its New York City campus.
“The immediate cancellation of approximately $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University due to the school’s continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students,” reads the joint statement issued by the Department of Justice, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Education and the U.S. General Services Administration.
Officials expect further cuts to follow.
“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 in the joint statement.
“Universities must comply with all federal anti-discrimination 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.”
The decisions are being made by President Donald Trump‘s Federal Task Force to Combat anti-Semitism, which was formally announced at the end of February with a mandate to investigate campuses “that have experienced anti-Semitic incidents,” since October 2023.
Trump in early February first announced his intent to form the task force.
Columbia University was one of 10 institutions the task force said it immediately began investigating.
“Freezing the funds is one of the tools we are using to respond to this spike in anti-Semitism. This is only the beginning,” Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Leo Terrell, who leads the task force, said in the statement.
“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.”
Federal authorities on Monday informed Columbia University officials of the pending move to cut off the grants.
Last August, a group of Columbia University students filed a lawsuit against the school alleging it failed to protect Jewish students during months of on-campus protests over Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.
With the protests drawing national attention, then-Columbia University president Minouche Shafik ultimately resigned later that month.