Schooling Secretary Linda McMahon accused Columbia of failing to give protection to Jewish scholars.
Columbia College’s period in-between president Katrina Armstrong stated past due Friday the college is actively addressing the troubles raised via federal businesses after $400 million in grants and and contracts have been revoked from the college over allegations of anti-Semitism on campus.
“Columbia is taking the federal government’s motion very severely,” Armstrong wrote. “I need to guarantee all the Columbia neighborhood that we’re dedicated to running with the government to handle their professional issues. To that finish, Columbia can, and can, proceed to take critical motion towards combatting antisemitism on our campus. That is our primary precedence.”
Schooling Secretary Linda McMahon accused Columbia of failing to give protection to Jewish scholars, referencing the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas assaults on Israel and the next Israeli army reaction in Gaza as a turning level in the upward push of anti-Semitic incidents on U.S. campuses.
“Since October 7, Jewish scholars have confronted relentless violence, intimidation, and anti-Semitic harassment on their campuses–most effective to be unnoticed via those that are intended to give protection to them,” McMahon stated in a remark.
“Universities will have to agree to all federal antidiscrimination rules if they’re going to obtain federal investment. For too lengthy, Columbia has deserted that legal responsibility to Jewish scholars learning on its campus. Nowadays, we reveal to Columbia and different universities that we can now not tolerate their appalling state of no activity any more,” she added.
Columbia has been a point of interest of pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel pupil protests for the reason that Hamas assault. Remaining spring, protesters camped out on campus, and at one level occupied a college development. In fresh days, scholars at Barnard Faculty, Columbia’s associate, occupied a couple of constructions to protest the expulsion of 2 scholars accused of disrupting an Israeli historical past magnificence. A number of scholars have been arrested after a protracted takeover of a development Tuesday evening.
Armstrong, in her March 7 message, highlighted the college’s ongoing efforts to forestall harassment and discrimination, noting that her management had reinforced disciplinary insurance policies, restructured campus safety, and greater sources for preventing anti-Semitism.
“My first motion as Period in-between President used to be to explain our Laws of College Behavior and reinforce our disciplinary procedure,” she wrote. “We have now reworked the College’s technique to managing demonstrations, constructed and put into motion disciplinary processes that in the past existed most effective on paper.”
Acknowledging that the investment revocation has created “anxiousness and fear” for the Columbia neighborhood, Armstrong recommended contributors to “summon the braveness to fulfill this second with choice, integrity and humility.”
Jack Phillips contributed to this file.