By Ryan Capone, Staff Writer.
Columbia University has had a shocking chain of events this month so far. On Mar. 8., Mahomoud Khalil, a Columbia University student, was deported to Louisiana to face trial for allegedly supporting Hamas, which the United States designates as a terrorist organization. He was a student organizer at pro-Palestinian protests throughout the campus and a student negotiator which had him interacting with both university officials and members of the press.
However, that has proved to be the least of Columbia University’s problems. At the same time in March, the university received a letter from the federal government regarding the high amount of protests that have occurred since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in 2023. The federal government stated that unless Columbia agreed to a list of demands to stop college students from protesting, they would prevent 400 million of federal funding from getting to the university due to a failure in combating antisemitism on campus.
Senior film major Max Mckenna thinks that there was a shift in roles in the Israel-Hamas which started some of the controversy.
“I feel like a lot of the younger generation is taking it into their own hands and being like, we never saw all this stuff with Israel,” Mckenna said. “People have been kicking them out of their land for thousands of years. But It’s not their turn to just turn around and do that.”
Many student protesters argued that protests on Columbia’s campus were not antisemitic. Since Columbia gets roughly 6.6 billion a year, this would be around 6 percent of their yearly revenue. According to the school’s newspaper, the Columbia Spectator, federal funding accounted for 1.3 billion of the university’s operating budget during the 2024 fiscal year.
According to the New York Times, this decision is unprecedented. Since the end of World War II, the U.S government has been funding universities to aid each generation of students. Since the White House has decided to take decisive action against Colombia University, other schools have been cracking down on illegal protesting. Recently the Department of Education announced an investigation regarding 45 universities including University of Notre Dame and Yale University. The investigation was over allegations of excluding people from graduate programs based on their race.
Freshman Veterinary Technician Kimberly Reyes Flores said that students should be able to have protests.
“I think people will have the ability to express themselves and definitely stand up for what they believe in. Them not being able to do that is just not very good.”
Since the war started in 2023, Colombia has had many protests on its campus. The most notable one was an encampment by students in support of Palestine in April 2024, where students pitched tents on the campus’s South Lawn, staying there for 13 days. Over 100 students were arrested by the New York Police Department (NYPD) the following day, with the Chief of Patrol stating that they “offered no resistance whatsoever” according to the Colombia Spectator. The students were released a few days later with Columbia notifying them of suspensions for participating in the encampment.
Shortly after the student occupation of the South Lawn was shut down, Pro-Palestinian student protesters occupied Hamilton Hall where they demanded the university cut financial ties with Israel or any company that is supporting them. The university responded by threatening to suspend any students who did not leave the protests by a certain deadline and sign a form abiding by university policies. Shortly after the protesters had occupied the building, the NYPD came to detain them inside the hall, taking several of the protesters into custody.
In order to get the opportunity to not have their funding withheld, Colombia would need to agree to several demands including defining what antisemitism is and restricting students from wearing masks to conceal their identity on campus. 36 campus police officers were elected to arrest students, and a new leadership position was instituted to oversee departments of the Middle East, South Asian, African, and Center for Palestinian Studies.
There has been criticism from Democrats regarding the withholding of funds stating that slashing this funding could have serious consequences on various research projects that could help many people. On the other hand, Republicans praised President Donald Trump and his administration for staying true to his promise to tackle antisemitism at various institutions.
Be First to Comment