The Trump administration announced on Friday that Columbia University will lose $400m in federal grants and contracts over accusations it has not done enough to combat antisemitism.
On Monday, a federal task force notified the Ivy League institution that it would conduct “a comprehensive review” of the university’s federal contracts and grants as part of its ongoing investigations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
The statement warned that the cancellations represent the first round of action and additional cancellations are expected to follow. Columbia University currently holds more than $5bn in federal grant commitments. The amount announced today is almost eight times more than the amount the federal task force announced it was considering halting on Monday.
The lesson that university administrations will probably fail to learn is that it’s better to stand up for your students from the start rather than give in to political demands to violently punish them over baseless allegations of antisemitism.