Date: 2025-08-22 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00028238
THE 2ND TRUMP PRESIDENCY
DIFFERENT ... WORSE ... THAN THE FIRST!
$400M in federal grants to Columbia University
canceled amid antisemitism probe
DIFFERENT ... WORSE ... THAN THE FIRST!
$400M in federal grants to Columbia University
canceled amid antisemitism probe
Columbia University students participate in an ongoing pro-Palestinian
encampment on their campus following last week’s arrest of more than
100 protesters on April 25, 2024 in New York City.
Original article: https://thehill.com/homenews/education/5182892-columbia-university-antisemitism-probe/
Peter Burgess COMMENTARY
The first 6 weeks of Trump's second term have been a whirlwind of 'executive action'
For some reason the phrase from Shakespeare keeps popping into my head:
Full of sound and fury ... signifying nothing!I think that, more than anything else, I cannot stand the way Trump embraces numbers that are massively wrong ... not by accident, but because he knows a number is needed, and essentially any number will do.
While this may be somewhat OK while on the campaign trail, it is not the way a person with any level of responsibility should behave, let alone the President of the United States.
It seems that Trump and his appointed Secretaries are heading in the direction of disruption. This attack on Columbia ... an academic institution ... seems to be some form of retribution emanating from Trump ... an angry old man who has a lot of power but no backbone!
I don't think I have been so 'angry' with leadership in my whole lifetime as I am at the moment. Slowly, over the past 45 years since Reagan gained power, my level of 'upsetness' has been increasing as the very rich in the big Western economies became risher and richer and richer, and everyone else worked harder and harder for less and less.
But the 2nd Trump Administration looks like it is going to take all of this to a new level.
And how Musk fits into all of this is anyone's guess.
Maybe these ultra rich old fools think all of this is fun ... and for them it may be ... but for ordinary folk the outcomes are going to be awful. Some of us care about this ... but the folk around Trump and Musk do not!
I see disaster in the future ... the not too distant future!
Peter Burgess
Written by Lexi Lonas Cochran
03/07/25 1:33 PM ET
The federal government canceled $400 million in grants to Columbia University amid its antisemitism probe into the school, the Justice Department’s Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism announced Friday.
The cancellation is due to the university’s “continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students,” the Department of Justice, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Education and the U.S. General Services Administration said in a joint statement.
A university spokesperson said Columbia is seeking to reverse the decision.
“We are reviewing the announcement from the federal agencies and pledge to work with the federal government to restore Columbia’s federal funding,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
“We take Columbia’s legal obligations seriously and understand how serious this announcement is and are committed to combatting antisemitism and ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our students, faculty, and staff.”
The departments said additional cancellations are likely to follow. The school has some $5 billion in federal grant commitments, according to the agencies.
“Since October 7, Jewish students have faced relentless violence, intimidation, and anti-Semitic harassment on their campuses — only to be ignored by those who are supposed to protect them,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said.
“Universities must comply with all federal antidiscrimination laws if they are going to receive federal funding. For too long, Columbia has abandoned that obligation to Jewish students studying on its campus. Today, we demonstrate to Columbia and other universities that we will not tolerate their appalling inaction any longer,” she added.
The decision comes after Barnard College, an affiliate of Columbia, saw arrests and injuries when pro-Palestinian protesters stormed a campus building.
Columbia has been a consistent target of Republicans since students at the university began the nationwide pro-Palestinian encampments that occurred last spring, occupying a central swath of campus for weeks last summer.
The funding cut for Columbia follows threats earlier in President Trump’s term to stop grants to schools over antisemitism or diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Tags antisemitism Antisemitism Columbia Columbia Linda McMahon
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