The Trump administration has accused Columbia University of violating the civil rights of Jewish students by “acting with deliberate indifference” toward what it calls rampant anti-Semitism on campus. The accusation was announced last night by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), marking the latest blow to an Ivy League university already reeling from federal funding cuts and ongoing government pressure to crack down on student free speech. The HHS civil rights division said it found that Columbia violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits recipients of federal funding from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin. The latter category, as the press release specifies, includes “discrimination against individuals on the basis of their Israeli or Jewish identity or ancestry, real or perceived.” The announcement does not include new sanctions against Columbia, which is already facing $400 million in federal cuts from the Trump administration for its response to pro-Palestinian protests on campus.
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