WASHINGTON – The Heritage Foundation issued the following statement in response to the Trump administration’s cancellation of roughly $400 million in federal grants to Columbia University “due to the school’s continued inaction in the face of the persistent harassment of Jewish students.” The move comes after the administration’s Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism completed a “comprehensive review” of the university’s federal grants and contracts. On Sunday, immigration authorities arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a former graduate student at Columbia University, who orchestrated unlawful, antisemitic campus protests.
Victoria Coates, vice president of the Kathyrn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy, stated:
“Columbia University has repeatedly failed to protect Jewish students on its campuses from rising antisemitism, particularly after the horrific terrorist attacks that unfolded on October 7th, 2023, in Israel.
“Instead of protecting this targeted community, the Columbia administration has fostered an environment of discrimination and violence against Jews while seemingly siding with pro-Hamas agitators.
“The Trump administration's decisive action is a necessary correction to this abhorrent behavior and similar measures should be considered at universities beyond Columbia, so tax-payer dollars are not funding bigotry.”
Jason Bedrick, Research Fellow at the Center for Education Policy, added:
“This is a great step in the right direction. For far too long, universities like Columbia have allowed radicals to engage in targeted harassment of Jewish students, incite violence, openly support terrorist organizations, and break campus policies with impunity.
“Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance.“By holding Columbia University accountable for its failure to protect students from such discriminatory harassment, the Trump administration is putting all universities on notice: uphold your obligations under federal law to protect your students or forfeit federal funding.”
Background:
Heritage, along with the National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, have long called to rescind federal funding from universities promulgating antisemitism. You may view these some of these pieces below:
