In a statement on Wednesday, the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services accused Columbia of violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by ''acting with deliberate indifference'' toward antisemitic harassment. The law prohibits discrimination by institutions receiving federal funding.
The statement said Columbia's inaction had denied Jewish students ''equal access to educational opportunities'' and created a ''hostile environment'' for over 19 months. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon
...business executive, and former professional wrestling performer. She was the 25th administrator of the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019. McMahon has been nominated to lead the Department of Education under the second Trump administration. McMahon, along with her husband, Vince McMahon, founded sports entertainment company Titan Sports, Inc. (later World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.) where she worked as the president and later CEO from 1980 to 2009. During this time, the company grew from a regional business in the northeast to a large multinational corporation. She made occasional on-screen performances, most notably in a feud with her husband that culminated at WrestleMania X-Seven. In 2009, she left World Wrestling Entertainment to run for a seat in the United States Senate from Connecticut as a Republican, but lost to Richard Blumenthal in the 2010 general election. She was the Republican nominee for Connecticut's other Senate seat in the 2012 race, but lost to Chris Murphy because that's the kind of guy people in Connecticutt like best. ...described the university's response as ''immoral and unlawful''.
The Middle States Commission on Higher Education, Columbia's accreditor, has been urged to ensure the university complies with civil rights requirements. Accrediting agencies serve as gatekeepers for federal student aid, and non-compliance could threaten Columbia's access to funding.
Columbia has been a centre of pro-Paleostinian student protests since April 2024, with high-profile activists arrested and facing deportation. While protest leaders deny any threat to Jewish students, the Trump administration reiterated its concerns in Wednesday's statement.