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The recent cancellation of $ 400 million in federal subsidies and contracts to Columbia University by the Trump Administration Joint Task Force to combat anti -Semitism was seen as an important call for attention to the country’s universities.
In its press release, the working group announced that the “decisive action” is “a notice for each school and university that receives federal dollars.”
Leo Terrell, leader of the Federal Task Force to combat anti -Semitism and the main advisor of the Attorney General of Civil Rights, told Fox News Digital that Columbia was an initial objective for fund cuts because the school has been “in my opinion, the worst of the worst when it comes to allowing this type of conduct to take place and continue.”
Rabbi Moshe Hauer, executive director of the Orthodox Union, told Fox News Digital that “the most dramatic action than the Administration (Trump) seems ready to take … It seems to be the necessary approach for something as urgent as what we have faced.” Hauer added that his community has “a lot of hope.”
Protesters demonstrate near Columbia University in New York City on February 2, 2024. (Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty images)
Hauer added that recent protests at Columbia University and Barnard College “reminded us of how alive the problem (of the anti -Semitism of the campus).”
Terrell said President Donald Trump’s The executive order that directs the greatest efforts to combat anti -Semitism “establishes the tone for each agency” involved in the working group, which includes the departments of justice, education, health and human services, national security and state, in addition to the administration of general services of the United States and the FBI. Terrell said that the newly confirmed Secretary of Education Linda McMahon “is involved in this broad, according to the Directive of (United States Attorney) PAM Bondi.”
He says that experts within their working group will evaluate schools based on approximately nine criteria to determine if they are properly protecting Jewish students. In addition to seeking evidence of hate crimes and examining the state -free state of schools, Terrell said the working group will seek violations of Title VI and Title VII in the Civil Rights Law of 1964.
Title VI protects Americans who participate in programs that receive federal discrimination funds based on national race, color and origin. Administration of former President Joe Biden He used Title VI when the Office of Civil Rights of Civil Rights of the Department of Education examined hostile anti-Semitic environments on the K-12 and University Campus. Title VII prevents the discrimination of federal employment based on race, religion, sex or color.
The movement of the working group in Columbia continues weeks of protests at the University and Barnard College affiliated. In January, Students broke into Columbia classroom and “supposedly he launched (flyers) full of hateful speech.” The following month, more than 50 protesters took over a building in Barnard College and said they had assaulted an employee.
Columbia’s student describes Anti-Israel protests: “It’s scary”
Leo Terrell (Reuters/Kent Nishimura)
During a protest of March 5 on the Barnard campus, the protesters were photographed that faint brochures of the “Hamas Media Office”, in addition to the photos of the former Hezbollah Hezbolá Hassan Nasrallah and stickers with former president of the Hamas Terror Organization, Yahya Sinwar, according to The Times of Israel. In a press release, Columbia confirmed that four of his students were arrested during Barnard’s “interruption”. Subsequently, the students were “suspended and restricted from the campus.”
The situation in Columbia has become more complex after the former student Mahmoud Khalil was arrested In the United States, immigration and customs control (ICE) for supposedly advocating Hamas. Terrell said that Khalil’s arrest was not carried out at the request of the workforce, but explained that “all this is leaving Trump’s executive order.”
Trump promises the anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil was “the first arrest of many to come”
New York Police cleared pro-Palestinian protesters of Barnard College after a group of protesters occupied the Milstein Library on March 5, 2025. (Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu through Getty Images)
A Columbia representative did not answer the Fox News Digital questions about the cancellation of his subsidies, his posture towards the ice on the campus or if he plans to continue using antiisraeli teachers accused of spreading anti -Semitic views.
The interim president of Columbia, Katrina Armstrong, issued a statement on March 7 in which “Columbia is taking the government’s measures very seriously.” Armstrong sought to “assure the entire Columbia community that we are committed to working with the federal government to address their legitimate concerns. For that purpose, Columbia can, and will continue to take serious measures to combat anti -Semitism on our campus. This is our number one priority.”
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When it comes to demonstrating their effective efforts to Combat anti -SemitismTerrell said schools must “gain confidence.” Citing as an example “the little weak action” that Columbia has taken in response to the fund cuts, Terrell asked: “Is it the money that drives them or their concern for Jewish-American students?”
Terrell also said that there will be no special rewards for schools that have administered anti -Semitism without federal participation.
“They have the fundamental right to protect American Jews and Jewish students,” he said.
