US cancels $400 million in funding for Columbia University over anti-Semitism allegations

(CLO) The administration of US President Donald Trump announced it has canceled approximately $400 million in grants and contracts to Columbia University due to allegations of anti-Semitism occurring in and around the university's campus in New York City.

This announcement was made on Friday in a joint statement from the Department of Justice , the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the General Services Administration.

The school's website homepage. Screenshot.

The Trump administration did not disclose specific funding and contracts affected, nor evidence of anti-Semitic harassment.

According to the government, these cuts will be taken from the more than $5 billion in current funding allocated to Columbia. The majority of this money is used for medical and scientific research.

Columbia was one of the leading universities in the pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protests over the past year, as the war in Gaza continued.

The university asserts that it has made efforts to combat antisemitism and other discriminatory practices on campus, while rejecting accusations from civil rights groups that it is allowing government interference in academic freedom of speech.

Protesters at Columbia – including students and some faculty – occupied an academic building for several hours in April and set up tents on the campus lawns. They demanded that the university stop investing in companies linked to Israeli military activity in the Palestinian territories.

The protests and demonstrations from pro-Israel supporters also sparked controversy, with accusations of anti-Semitism, anti-Muslimism, and racism.

The Columbia University Apartheid Divest student union, the group behind the pro-Palestinian protests, which includes Jewish students and organizations, argues that criticism of Israel is being mistaken for anti-Semitism. Meanwhile, some Jewish and Israeli students argue that the protests are putting pressure on and disrupting the academic environment.

"The cancellation of these taxpayer-funded grants is our strongest signal yet that the federal government will not support an educational institution like Columbia if it does not protect its Jewish students and staff," declared Leo Terrell, head of the Justice Department's anti-Semitism task force.

Over the past year, Columbia University has disciplined dozens of students and faculty members for participating in pro-Palestinian movements, with many cases resulting in suspensions. The university also called the police twice to arrest protesters, drawing widespread protests from faculty.

Columbia spokesperson Samantha Slater said the school's leadership is "committed to working with the federal government to restore funding."

Cao Phong (according to WH, CLU, CNN)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/my-huy-bo-400-trieu-usd-tien-tai-tro-cho-dai-hoc-columbia-vi-cao-buoc-bai-do-thai-post337600.html