The federal government’s Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Education (ED), and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) today announced the immediate cancelation of approximately $400 million in federal grants and contracts wth Columbia University. The government said it took the action because it feels Columbia has not taken sufficient action to deal with what it calls persistent harassment of Jewish students.
The government said the $400 million in cancelations represents just the first round of action and additional cancelations are expected to follow. Columbia University currently holds more than $5 billion in federal grant commitments, the government said.
Jewish students have faced relentless violence, intimidation, and antisemitic harassment on their campuses only to be ignored by those who are supposed to protect them,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “Today, we demonstrate to Columbia and other universities that we will not tolerate their appalling inaction any longer.”
The government’s announcement said that GSA will assist HHS and ED in issuing stop-work orders on grants and contracts that Columbia holds with those agencies. These stop-work orders will immediately freeze the university’s access to the funds. Additionally, GSA will be assisting other agencies in issuing stop work orders and terminations for contracts held by Columbia University.
On March 3, after the government indicated what might be coming soon, Columbia issued a statement saying, “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. We look forward to ongoing work with the new federal administration to fight antisemitism, and we will continue to make all efforts to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our students, faculty, and staff.”
On Nov. 1, 2023, the president of Columbia at the time, Minouche Shafik announced that the university was forming a Task Force on Antisemitism “to enhance our ability to address this ancient, but terribly resilient, form of hatred. We are taking this step as part of a commitment to ensuring that our campuses are safe, welcoming, and inclusive for Jewish students, faculty, and staff, and all of us.”
She said, “We have been distressed that a series of antisemitic incidents on campus have been reported in the three weeks following the October 7 terror attack in Israel and outbreak of war in Gaza. We want to reiterate that we will not tolerate such actions and are moving forcefully against antisemitic threats, images, and other violations as they are reported, and we will continue to provide additional resources to protect our campuses.”
Columbia is preparing to open a 26-acre campus in White Plains featuring specialty health care for patients in Westchester and Rockland. Located at 1111 Westchester Ave., the 200,000-square-foot facility will include 150 new exam rooms and 10 operating rooms along with an outpatient imaging center, oncology infusion services and an ambulatory surgery unit.
