The Department of Education sent a warning to the accreditor of Columbia University on Wednesday, saying the Ivy League institution violated federal anti-discrimination laws.
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a press release that the decision came after the spate of protests on university grounds opposing the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
McMahon alleged Columbia leadership “acted with deliberate indifference towards the harassment of Jewish students on its campus.”
“This is not only immoral, but also unlawful,” McMahon said.
Members of Columbia University’s faculty hold a protest in support of Palestine and for free speech on the Columbia University campus on November 15, 2023 in New York City. The university suspended two student organizations, Students for Justice in Palestine, and Jewish Voices for Peace, for violating university policies. The tense atmosphere at many college campuses has increased as student groups, activists and others have protested both in support of Israel and Palestine (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Columbia is accused of violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits recipients of federal funding from discriminating on the basis of race, color or national origin, according to the department.
The department said that by violating federal anti-discrimination laws, Columbia has failed to meet the standards of accreditation that have been set by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
The accreditation process determines which schools are eligible for loans and financial aid. The move could have massive implications for colleges and universities as education experts suggest it eliminates protections for students.
The government claims Columbia leadership failed to take several actions, including failing to establish effective reporting mechanisms for antisemitism until the summer of 2024, failure to abide by its own policies and procedures when responding to Jewish students’ complaints as well as governing misconduct against Jewish students and not investigating or punishing vandalism in its classrooms.
Now, the university’s federal accreditor is required to establish a plan to come into compliance with the federal law or “take appropriate action against” Columbia, the department said.
In a statement to ABC News on Wednesday, a Columbia University spokesperson said the institution is “deeply committed to combating antisemitism on our campus.”
“We take this issue seriously and are continuing to work with the federal government to address it,” the spokesperson added.
This spring, Trump signed an executive order aimed at overhauling the higher education accreditation system and calling on McMahon to hold “accreditors” accountable. His administration has taken measures to “vigorously” combat antisemitism on college campuses, including stripping Columbia of $400 million in education grants and contracts.
This is the administration’s latest action taken against prominent universities.
Last month, the Trump administration announced and then backtracked on a decision to bar Harvard University from allowing international students to enroll at the university.
Harvard is also fighting the president’s attempt to freeze more than $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts to the school. Harvard filed a separate lawsuit to challenge the funding freeze in April, and the next hearing in that case is set for July.
Trump has previously expressed interest in revoking the university’s tax-exempt status.
ABC News’ Arthur Jones II contributed to this report.
