Jewish students say they’re being blamed for jeopardizing the institution’s future
Columbia University’s “deliberate indifference towards the harassment of Jewish students” could cost the institution its accreditation status, the U.S. Department of Education warned in an announcement Wednesday.
In a notice to the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the department said Columbia is not meeting accreditation standards because it has failed to protect Jewish students’ civil rights, according to a news release.
“After Hamas’ October 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel, Columbia University’s leadership acted with deliberate indifference towards the harassment of Jewish students on its campus,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon stated in the release.
Accreditation is linked to student financial aid, including Pell Grants. If the Ivy League school loses its accreditation status, it would not be able to accept students receiving federal financial aid.
Responding to the news, the university said in a statement that it already has addressed the concerns with the accreditor.
“Columbia is deeply committed to combatting antisemitism on our campus. We take this issue seriously and are continuing to work with the federal government to address it,” the university stated.
The X account Columbia Jewish & Israeli Students expressed hope that the warning will prompt the university to take antisemitism more seriously.
“The Trump administration is trying to make an example of Columbia. The solution is simple. Take antisemitism seriously and enforce existing rules,” the group wrote.
However, the Jewish students said they are being blamed for putting the institution’s accreditation status in jeopardy — and that “couldn’t be further from the truth.”
“All we wanted was to learn and work at a world-class institution free from harassment, discrimination, and hate,” they wrote.
A Jewish parent, Andy Ellis, whose child attends Columbia, said administrators and professors are to blame.
Well, my kid may not have a school to go back to next year. Who do I blame?
The three deans who told us this was all under control at the start of the year.
The Hamasniks protesting, sometimes violently, against the existence of Jews and America.
The professors who directly… https://t.co/ScDmW1a2PW
— Andy Ellis (@csoandy) June 5, 2025
Ellis’s comment appeared to be a reference to three former deans who lost their positions in 2024 after being caught mocking Jewish leaders and students during an antisemitism panel.
Meanwhile, a Johns Hopkins University engineering professor called the government’s latest action against the school “ridiculous.”
“Another ridiculous attack on universities: the US Sec of Education, who’s only claim to fame is promoting her husband’s pro wrestling business, says @Columbia doesn’t meet accreditation standards. And btw the Educ Dept doesn’t accredit universities,” Professor Steven Salzberg wrote on X.
CU Apartheid Divest also criticized the move on X, alleging the university’s real hostility was directed at pro-Palestinian students.
“Columbia did everything short of waterboarding students and still got their accreditation threatened by the Department of Education fjdksalfjaklsfj this is peak clownery,” the group wrote.
The New York university has been a hotbed of pro-Palestinian activism for years. In May, police arrested 78 pro-Palestinian protesters who occupied Columbia’s library, The College Fix reported. Two police officers were injured during the altercation, according to university leaders.
Last year, Columbia even canceled its campus-wide commencement ceremony due to concerns about protests and student safety.
In March, the university agreed to implement a long list of policy changes in response to the Trump administration’s concerns over rampant antisemitism and a $400 million federal funding cut, The Fix reported at the time.
Then in May, a report by the Office for Civil Rights found “Columbia failed to meaningfully protect Jewish students against severe and pervasive harassment on Columbia’s campus and consequently denied these students’ equal access to educational opportunities to which they are entitled under the law.”
MORE: Columbia removes 3 administrators caught mocking antisemitism panel
IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Pro-Palestinian protester gather on the lawn at Columbia University; CU Apartheid Divest/X
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