NEW YORK: The US authorities threatened on Wednesday (Jun 4) to strip New York’s Columbia College of its accreditation for allegedly ignoring harassment of Jewish college students, placing all of its federal funding and status in danger.
With the transfer, the administration of President Donald Trump seemed to be doubling down on its efforts to bring several prestigious universities to heel over claims they tolerated campus anti-Semitism throughout protests in opposition to Israel’s conflict in Gaza.
A number of prime establishments, together with Columbia College, have already bowed to far-reaching calls for from the Trump administration, which claims that the academic elite is simply too left-wing.
“Columbia College seemed the opposite means as Jewish college students confronted harassment,” US Schooling Secretary Linda McMahon stated on X.
She accused the respected Ivy League faculty of “breaking Title VI protections”, referring to a federal regulation that prohibits recipients of federal funding from discriminating on the premise of race, color or nationwide origin.
“After Hamas’ Oct 7, 2023, terror assault on Israel, Columbia College’s management acted with deliberate indifference in direction of the harassment of Jewish college students on its campus,” she stated in a press release.
“This isn’t solely immoral, but additionally illegal.”
Within the assertion, the US Schooling Division stated its civil rights workplace had notified Columbia’s accreditor of the alleged violation.
It stated it had notified the Center States Fee on Larger Schooling that “its member establishment, Columbia College, is in violation of federal antidiscrimination legal guidelines and due to this fact fails to fulfill the requirements for accreditation set by the Fee”.
Withdrawing the Columbia’s accreditation would see it lose entry to all federal funds.
College students attending the college, which has already seen the Trump administration strip it of US$400 million in federal funds, would additionally lose entry to federal grants and loans in direction of tuition.
