Columbia Issues Letter Responding To Trump Decision
Alright, folks, here’s a story that just flipped the script on elite academia: Columbia University, one of the most prestigious institutions in the country, just got hit hard—to the tune of $400 million—by the Trump administration over its handling of antisemitism on campus. And now? It looks like Columbia is ready to play ball with Trump’s White House.
Let’s break it down. Interim President Katrina Armstrong sent out a letter on Friday responding to the funding cuts, and her tone? Not defiant. Not outraged.
Instead, she made it clear that Columbia is taking this situation very seriously and is willing to address the administration’s “legitimate concerns.” That’s a pretty stark contrast to what we’ve seen from elite universities in the past, where the usual reaction to federal intervention is public outrage and fiery resistance.
Armstrong didn’t hold back in acknowledging the problem. She admitted that Jewish students had been “targeted, harassed, and made to feel unsafe” during last year’s wave of protests. And in a particularly eye-opening moment, she even took a swipe at Columbia’s own disciplinary process, saying it “previously only existed on paper.” Translation? Under the previous leadership, the university talked a big game but did next to nothing when it came to actually enforcing the rules.
That leadership, by the way, was former Columbia President Minouche Shafik, who resigned in August 2024 after months of campus turmoil. If you recall, the school was rocked by massive anti-Israel protests, including encampments and even a building takeover. The chaos clearly didn’t sit well with the Trump administration, which decided to send a very expensive message: clean up your act, or the funding goes away.
SHALOM COLUMBIA: The Trump Admin, led by @USEDgov and the Task Force to Combat Antisemitism (@TheJusticeDept, @HHSGov, & @USGSA), has canceled ~$400M in federal grants to @Columbia over its failure to protect Jewish students from antisemitic harassment. pic.twitter.com/CavoXbhhvx
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 7, 2025
The administration’s decision to pull the $400 million came after federal agencies, including the Departments of Justice, Education, and Health and Human Services, launched a comprehensive review of Columbia’s grant funding. They were investigating whether the university’s failure to protect Jewish students violated the Civil Rights Act. The verdict? Columbia had, in the words of Education Secretary Linda McMahon, “abandoned that obligation” for far too long.
And then there was the cherry on top—a tweet from the White House that simply read, “Shalom Columbia.” If you think that was just a polite greeting, think again. It was likely a pointed reference to a message Trump had sent to Hamas earlier in the week, signaling that his administration isn’t just watching these university controversies—it’s taking action.
But here’s the real kicker: Columbia is still dealing with a resurgence of anti-Israel activism. Just this January, students stormed an Israeli history class, handed out antisemitic flyers, and got themselves expelled. That, in turn, led to even more protests, arrests, and another round of campus chaos. It’s a cycle that just won’t stop, and now, with hundreds of millions in federal funding on the line, Columbia has a very real incentive to figure it out.