Trump has cut significant funding from Columbia University of allegations of antisemitism at pro-Palestine protests [Getty]
US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that his administration had cancelled $400m in federal grants and contracts to New York’s Columbia University, due to alleged antisemitism amid the pro-Palestine encampments which took place last year.
Last week, Trump threatened to cut funding for several colleges that he said allowed “illegal protests”, a move that has raised concern among free speech activists.
Trump’s secretary of education, Linda McMahon, said last week that Columbia would lose federal funding if it did not take further action to combat antisemitism on its campus.
McMahon further added that “Columbia has abandoned that obligation to Jewish students studying on its campus”.
A statement issued later by the Department of Education and the US General Services Administration said: “These cancellations represent the first round of action and additional cancellations are expected to follow”.
Trump has repeatedly referred to the university campus protests, which called for a Gaza ceasefire, as”illegal protests”. The encampments were set up at Columbia’s campus in April last year, triggering a wave of similar protests in other colleges, and then internationally.
Activists however have denied there was any antisemitic activity at the protests, highlighting that many of those taking part were themselves Jewish.
The latest development comes after Columbia established a new disciplinary committee and increased investigations into students deemed critical of Israel, further raising concerns among activists.
Trump doubled down on his comments against the protests on his Truth Social platform recently, threatening that participants “will be imprisoned or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or depending on the crime, arrested”.
In a statement to the Columbia Spectator, a Columbia University spokesperson said they were “reviewing the announcement from the federal agencies and [pledged] to work with the federal government to restore Columbia’s federal funding”.
The spokesperson reaffirmed they were “committed to combatting antisemitism and ensuring the safety and wellbeing of students”.
The funding cut may impact research, projects and various activities at Columbia, which also has a medical centre among other key services. While it is not yet clear what will be affected by the funding cut, the university said they are reviewing the announcement.
Some research leaders and professors at the university have expressed concern over what the cuts will mean for their budgets for the next academic year.
A retired senior research scientist who continues to teach at the university, Robert Newton, who is Jewish, said the cuts were based on “complete falsehood”, referring to the accusations of antisemitism.
The move has also garnered condemnation from the New York Civil Liberties Union’s executive director, Donna Lieberman, who called the move an effort to “coerce colleges and universities into censoring student speech and advocacy that isn’t MAGA-approved, like criticizing Israel or supporting Palestinian rights.”
Other US colleges have also come under federal investigation, including the University of California, Berkeley, University of Minnesota, Northwestern University and Portland State University.
