Columbia University is ready and willing to work with President Donald Trump and his administration. Interim president of the university. Katrina Armstrong wrote on Friday in response to the Trump administration, which cuts down $400 million federal grants to schools. The federal agency that cut ties with Colombia said the Ivy League facility was due to “continuous inaction in the face of permanent harassment of Jewish students.”
In the letter, Armstrong said that cuts in funding would “immediately affect research and other important functions,” but he would not dismiss the Trump administration's claims. Rather, Armstrong writes that the university is ready to take cuts “very seriously” and work with the government.
Student protesters will avoid the camp at Columbia University campus in New York on Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Eremiya)
Trump will cut Colombia's more than $400 million grants over anti-Semitism concerns.
“When I accepted the role of interim president in August 2024, I knew that Columbia needed a reset from the previous year and that it would require a disruption in campus campus and protests,” Armstrong wrote. “The university also had to acknowledge and repair the damages to Jewish students who were targeted, harassed and felt unwelcome last spring on campus.”
Armstrong, who has given her part of her letter, admitted that Columbia University's disciplinary process “previously only existed on paper,” appears to be taking a jab with former Colombian president Minush Shafik.
In August 2024, Shafiq resigned after months of anti-Israel protests shaking the university, including the acquisition of large campuses and buildings at the heart of the campus.
A pro-Palestinian rally will be held on April 22, 2024, on the steps of the Low Library on the grounds of Columbia University in New York City. (DavidDeeDelgado/Getty Images)
NYPD makes multiple arrests at Bernard University after anti-Israel agitator takes over the library
On Friday, the Trump administration announced it would withdraw roughly $400 million in federal grants to Colombia for its anti-Semitism treatment in schools.
The White House later tweeted with the phrase “Shalom Columbia.”
The fund cut comes just days after the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Justice (DOJ), Education (DOE), and the U.S. Agency for General Services (GSA) announced the launch of a “comprehensive review” of federal grants. The agency cited a recently formed joint task force to combat anti-Semitism investigations into whether Colombia violated civil rights laws through inaction against Jewish students' harassment.
“For too long, Columbia has waived that obligation to Jewish students studying on its campus,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon wrote in a statement. “Today, we show Columbia and other universities that we no longer tolerate their horrific inaction.”
Members of the anti-Israel mob broke into Hamilton Hall at Columbia University on April 30, 2024. (Alex Kent/Getty Images)
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Columbia University has experienced new anti-Israel activities in recent weeks. In January, students addressed the class of Israeli history and distributed flyers with anti-Semitic and hateful rhetoric.
The students were later exiled and sparked protests at Bernard, Columbia's sister school. Several protesters were arrested after taking over the Bernard University Library in protest of the expulsion.
