Columbia University appears to be ready and willing to work with President Donald Trump and his administration. The university’s interim president. Katrina Armstrong, issued a letter on Friday in response to the Trump administration cutting $400 million in federal grants to the school. Federal agencies that severed their ties with Columbia said it was because of the Ivy League institution’s “continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.”
Armstrong says in her letter that the funding cuts will “immediately impact research and other critical functions,” but she does not dismiss the Trump administration’s claims. Rather, Armstrong writes that the university takes the cuts “very seriously” and is prepared to work with the government on its “legitimate concerns.”
Student protesters march around their encampment on the Columbia University campus, Monday, April 29, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
TRUMP CUTS MORE THAN $400 MILLION IN GRANTS TO COLUMBIA OVER ANTISEMITISM CONCERNS, POTENTIALLY MORE TO COME
“When I accepted the role of Interim President in August 2024, I knew Columbia needed a reset from the previous year and the chaos of encampments and protests on our campus,” Armstrong wrote. “The University also needed to acknowledge and repair the damage to our Jewish students, who were targeted, harassed, and made to feel unsafe or unwelcome on our campus last spring.”
In a telling portion of her letter, Armstrong admits that Columbia University’s disciplinary process “previously only existed on paper,” seemingly taking a jab at former Columbia President Minouche Shafik.
In August 2024, Shafik resigned after the university was rocked by months of anti-Israel protests, including a large encampment at the center of its campus and the takeover of a building.
A pro-Palestine rally is held at the steps of Lowe Library on the grounds of Columbia University on April 22, 2024, in New York City. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)
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On Friday, the Trump administration announced it would rescind approximately $400 million in federal grants to Columbia over the school’s handling of antisemitism.
The White House later posted a tweet with the phrase “Shalom Columbia,” likely a nod to a message Trump sent to Hamas earlier in the week.
The fund slashing came just a few days after the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Justice (DOJ), Education (DoE) and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced the initiation of a “comprehensive review” of federal grants to Columbia. The agencies cited the recently formed Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism’s investigation into whether Columbia violated the Civil Rights Act with its inaction on the harassment of Jewish students.
“For too long, Columbia has abandoned that obligation to Jewish students studying on its campus,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon wrote in a statement. “Today, we demonstrate to Columbia and other universities that we will not tolerate their appalling inaction any longer.”
Members of an anti-Israel mob broke into Hamilton Hall at Columbia University on April 30, 2024. (Alex Kent/Getty Images)
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Columbia University has experienced renewed anti-Israel activity in the last few weeks. In January, students barged into an Israeli history class and distributed flyers with antisemitic and hateful rhetoric.
The students were later expelled, sparking protests at Columbia’s sister school, Barnard. Multiple protesters were arrested after they took over the Barnard College library in protest of the expulsions.
