Defunding Columbia Won’t Help Jewish Students

On Friday, the Trump administration announced that it would cancel $400 million in federal grants to Columbia University, citing the school’s “continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.” Jews should not mistake this move for a defense of our community.

Columbia’s Jewish community has, unfortunately, endured relentless harassment since Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel. But federal grants to private universities largely fund scientific research, and punishing Columbia’s scientists does nothing to solve campus Jew-hate. Unlike some universities that have ignored or downplayed campus antisemitism, Columbia has been strengthening its policies and taking action, even earning praise from watchdog groups like the ADL. If the government truly wanted to support Jewish students, they would be encouraging these efforts, not singling out an institution making progress while leaving worse antisemitism offenders untouched.

Defunding scientists who had nothing to do with anti-Israel protests is not about antisemitism as Trump’s announcement claimed. Rather, it is simply the latest tactic from an administration intent on attacking science and education, which undermines everything Jews stand for. Columbia is a leader in climate science, medicine, and technology — fields that Jews have shaped and cherished for decades. Fighting campus antisemitism requires trust and cooperation between universities, the government, and the Jewish community — not the destruction of academia itself.

As a Jewish climate journalist, I’ve had the opportunity to interview several Columbia climate scientists and attend multiple climate conferences hosted by the university. For Columbia’s Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, making history is routine. Their scholars have notched dozens of consequential achievements over the years, from creating the first ever seafloor map in 1952 to coining the phrase “global warming” for the first time in scientific literature in 1975 to successfully attributing the American southwest’s drought to human climate changes in 2015 — laying groundwork for scientists to begin determining the impact of climate change on individual extreme weather events. I value their work as a climate-concerned citizen, but also as a Jew: our tradition includes several land-based rituals and holidays such as Tu BiShvat and Sukkot connecting us to our environment, and Israel specifically is in the fastest warming land region of the world.

Columbia trendsets in more than just climate science. Chemist Jack Tulyag and his team discovered a superatomic semiconductor that moves energy-carrying particles twice as fast as electrons in silicon, a breakthrough that could one day make computers, smartphones, and other everyday electronics faster and more efficient. Neurologist Jan Claassen and his team identified specific brain injuries that prevent movement but leave awareness intact, offering a crucial breakthrough in detecting hidden consciousness which could help doctors better diagnose, treat, and predict recovery for these patients. Biomedical engineer Tal Danino and his team developed a breakthrough cancer therapy that uses engineered bacteria to paint solid tumors with synthetic targets — an innovation that could make personalized, highly effective immunotherapy possible for a wide range of solid tumors. These accomplishments were just a few from 2023 alone.

Attacking world-renowned scientists at Columbia — or anywhere for that matter — doesn’t help Jews one iota. Rather, it strips us of the ability to use life-saving medical research, grow our burgeoning high-tech industry in Israel, and understand and address the climate crisis we currently face. With our history of scientific and technological prowess, Jews should oppose the defunding of those efforts more than anyone.

Beyond science and academia, education itself has been a defining pillar of Jewish identity for centuries. From the Shulchan Aruch’s mandate that every Jewish community must fund teachers for its children to the overwhelming expectation among American Jews today that college is a given, Jews have long been known as a “people of the book.” A recent national survey found that 80% of Jewish respondents were expected to pursue a four-year degree, nearly double the national average and significantly higher than other religious groups. And Jews put their money where their mouth is: between 2014 and 2022, seven major Jewish federations directed nearly $650 million in donor-advised grants to top universities. This emphasis on education has persisted across generations, with Jewish families valuing knowledge not only as a means of personal advancement but as a core cultural imperative.

Right-wing attacks on higher education emerged long before the explosion of antisemitism in the last year and a half. Some objections, such as the lack of free speech or viewpoint diversity among professors, have merit. But attacking higher education as a whole is inconsistent with Jewish values — Jews want to feel safe at college, not lose the experience altogether.

Of course, it’s true that last year, Jewish students were not safe at Columbia. Visibly Jewish students were spat on, stalked, pinned against walls, beaten with sticks, chased off campus, called slurs like “baby killer,” and had their Star of David necklaces ripped off and mezuzahs stolen. A Jewish student was forced to move out of her dorm after people banged on her door at all hours, demanding she explain Israel’s actions. Jewish students were expelled from clubs, dance teams, and leadership roles over their identity, with the founder of an LGBTQ+ group declaring, “white Jewish people are today and always have been the oppressors of all brown people,” and that “the Holocaust wasn’t special.” Protesters took over university buildings, held signs reading “Al-Qassam’s next target” in front of Jewish students, and chanted “Al-Qassam you make us proud! Take another soldier out!” and “Hamas we love you. We support your rockets too!” among other violent slogans. These were not peaceful protestors as some claim — Columbia’s Jewish hate was a serious issue that demanded a response.

Yet, Columbia did respond. The university suspended anti-Israel student groups SJP and JVP for violating university policies, disciplined students for hosting events that promoted violence, and reaffirmed that it would not divest from Israel. The university created a Task Force on Antisemitism, expanded bias reporting systems, and launched mandatory Title VI training for faculty, staff, and students, including specific scenarios on how antisemitism manifests. A new Office of Institutional Equity was established to centralize discrimination complaints, and Columbia introduced policies prohibiting the use of “Zionist” when employed to target Jews or Israelis. Last August, Columbia implemented a university ID requirement for campus entry, preventing outsiders from joining protests. Even the ADL gave Columbia an “Above Expectations” grade for their publicly disclosed administrative actions in their 2025 report card. While these measures did not fully curb harassment of Jewish students, the situation has unquestionably improved from a year ago; and more importantly, the university has shown a desire to address the issue. 

If protecting Jewish students were a priority of the Trump administration, they would be working with Columbia toward this goal, not against them. In fact, even with this funding freeze, Columbia administrators have indicated that they would like to work with the government to address their concerns, but have not received any specifics from them. Without directives, Columbia can’t actually do anything to improve campus life and reobtain their funding, instead being stuck in perpetual “time-out.” This could force Columbia to look elsewhere for funding, such as Qatar who donated $295 million to Columbia from 2014 to 2019. For Jewish students, additional Qatari influence at Columbia could prove significantly worse than today’s status quo.

Either Trump’s funding cuts were spontaneous and grossly miscalculated, or they have nothing to do with protecting Jewish students and were merely an excuse to impugn science and academia. Or both.

There are plenty of steps that could make a difference for Jewish students without restricting free speech, flaring tensions, or disrupting critical scientific research from entire institutions. In the short-term, Columbia can demand more assertive leadership from trustees, issue public statements around specific campus and Title VI policies, and enforce these rules consistently, equitably, and transparently to allow for peaceful protest while quelling violence and maintaining trust. Allegations of direct ties between student groups and terrorist organizations must be investigated. In the medium-term, Columbia can decline donations from Qatar or other nefarious actors, push to recruit more inclusive and diverse viewpoints from new faculty, and tweak admissions criteria to weed out students who express hate toward Jews or any other group. The university could also explore internal security mechanisms with community consultation or involvement, as opposed to using officials from NYPD and ICE who routinely escalate tension and controversy.

As for policymakers, Jews can advocate they support Columbia and other universities in these efforts, be it through funding, resources, or getting out of the way. The Justice Department’s new Task Force to Combat Antisemitism could also stop firing accusations aimlessly and instead conduct objective investigations to identify the universities truly unwilling to protect Jewish students from harassment. Some do exist — the ADL’s Campus Antisemitism Report Card gave thirteen F grades to US colleges, largely to smaller schools which don’t make the news but have far deeper problems than Columbia. Approaching schools like these, investigating their compliance with Title VI, and outlining clear steps to return to compliance with the threat of a “stick” — such as pulling funding — would likely yield far better results for Jewish students than yanking money from any school to appear in a viral TikTok.

Addressing campus antisemitism required a scalpel. Instead, Trump used a sledgehammer. Jews celebrating this tactic miss the bigger picture — it targets the wrong institution, disrupts critical research in climate science, technology, and medicine, and does nothing to protect Jewish students. We deserve real protection from harassment on campus, not a political stunt that exploits our community to attack our values.