Campus crackdown: US education department threatens Columbia University’s accreditation; cites antisemitism concerns

Columbia University campus (File photograph)

The US administration led by President Donald Trump has intensified its battle with Columbia University, stating that the establishment fails to fulfill accreditation standards because of insufficient safety of Jewish college students.“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,” acknowledged US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon on Wednesday.The Office for Civil Rights on the US Department of Education introduced Wednesday that it had knowledgeable the Middle States Commission on Higher Education about Columbia University’s alleged Title VI Civil Rights Act violation, as per an Education Department launch. “The US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) today notified Middle States Commission on Higher Education (the Commission) that its member institution, Columbia University, is in violation of federal antidiscrimination laws and therefore fails to meet the standards for accreditation set by the Commission,” acknowledged the discharge.The federal physique claimed that the college seems to now not fulfill the fee’s accreditation necessities.The comes because the US authorities escalates its scrutiny of elite educational establishments relating to allegations of widespread antisemitism and progressive prejudice.According to Columbia’s web site, accreditation, administered by non-profit organisations, is important for college college students to entry federal funding, together with grants and loans. “We look forward to the Commission keeping the Department fully informed of actions taken to ensure Columbia’s compliance with accreditation standards including compliance with federal civil rights laws,” McMahon added to her assertion.The Middle States Commission on Higher Education acknowledged, to CNN, the receipt of Wednesday’s letter.Columbia confronted accusations final month of breaching federal civil rights regulation via “deliberate indifference” to Jewish scholar harassment since October 7, 2023, corresponding with Hamas’s assault and Israel’s subsequent navy response in Gaza.A Columbia consultant characterised these findings as development of their collaborative efforts with the federal government to deal with antisemitism on campus.This varieties a part of the federal authorities’s Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism initiatives, established following Trump’s February government order.Trump additional addressed school accreditation via an April government order, directing the education secretary to make sure accreditors’ accountability via numerous measures for poor efficiency or Civil Rights Act violations, as detailed by a White House official to CNN.The Education Department confirmed Wednesday its duty to tell accreditors about member establishments’ non-compliance findings, in accordance with Trump’s government order.Leading US universities, together with Columbia, face substantial stress from the administration to implement coverage modifications or threat dropping federal help.In March, Columbia carried out complete coverage modifications after the administration threatened to withdraw $400 million in grants and contracts over alleged inadequate motion towards campus antisemitism.