Tuesday, President Trump warned that American students will face expulsion if their universities accept “illegal protests” and vowed to cut off government money to those institutions.
“Any college, school, or university that allows illegal protests will have all federal funding cut off,” Trump tweeted on Truth Social. Assailants will face imprisonment or permanent deportation to their home place. Depending on the offense, American students may face arrest or permanent expulsion. Put away those masks! You have my gratitude for paying attention to this.
The social media post follows last week’s announcement by a federal task committee on antisemitism that it will visit ten college campuses where antisemitic incidents have occurred since the assaults on Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
Columbia, GW, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, NYU, Northwestern, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Minnesota, USC, and Los Angeles are among the schools comprised.
Republicans in Congress scrutinized these organizations closely after they hosted high-profile anti-war rallies in the months after the attack.
“Immediate action” is to be taken by the Justice Department and attorney general to pursue antisemitic offenses such as intimidation and vandalism. Additionally, “anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities” is to be investigated. Trump has already issued an executive order directing this.
As part of the continuing Title VI inquiry of Columbia University, the following federal agencies—the DHHS, the DOE, and the General Services Administration—announced on Monday a thorough evaluation of the university’s government contracts and awards.
In order to obtain federal funding, schools are required to follow Title VI, a statute that prohibits discrimination based on a person’s national origin, ethnicity, or common ancestry. School money might be in jeopardy for those that break the law.
The government is reportedly contemplating “stop work orders” for the $51.4 million in federal contracts that Columbia University is owed due to its “ongoing inaction in the face of relentless harassment of Jewish students,” as stated in a news release. Additionally, the task committee has pledged to thoroughly examine the over $5 billion in federal grant promises that Columbia has received.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon made the following statement: “Institution that receive federal funds have a responsibility to protect all students from discrimination.” “The fact that Columbia has apparently not kept their word on this fundamental agreement calls into question the bank’s ability to do business with the US government.”
