Columbia’s ‘indifference’ to anti-Israel protests violated civil rights law: HHS

The Trump administration on Thursday accused Columbia University of having violated federal law through its “deliberate indifference” toward anti-Israel protests that have been taking over the campus since Oct. 7, 2023.

Investigative findings from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) allege that Columbia’s handling of “student-on-student harassment of Jewish students” over the past 19 months violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

HHS said Title VI “prohibits a recipient of Federal financial assistance from discriminating in its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, or national origin, which includes discrimination against individuals that is based on their actual or perceived Israeli or Jewish identity or ancestry.”

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HHS alleged that Columbia “continually failed to protect Jewish students” by allowing the “hostile environment created by some of its students” to continue.

The Ivy League’s campus has been a major hotspot for anti-Israel and pro-Hamas protests and gatherings since the terrorist group launched its attack on Israel in October 2023. In the months since, campus buildings have been taken over or damaged by large groups of people chanting antisemitic phrases and demanding that the university divest from Israel.

The OCR’s Notice of Violation alleged that Columbia “failed” to combat antisemitism in various ways, including by not properly abiding by its own policies and procedures when responding to complaints from the Jewish student population or when governing student misconduct towards Jewish students.

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HHS said it took the university until summer 2024 to “establish effective reporting and remediation mechanisms for antisemitism.” Even then, the university is accused of not investigating or punishing vandalism – such as swastikas and other hate images – in classrooms. 

The office also said the university did not enforce its own time, place and manner restrictions for on-campus protests, especially in academic buildings, residence halls and libraries.

“The findings carefully document the hostile environment Jewish students at Columbia University have had to endure for over 19 months, disrupting their education, safety, and well-being,” said Anthony Archeval, Acting Director of the OCR at HHS. “We encourage Columbia University to work with us to come to an agreement that reflects meaningful changes that will truly protect Jewish students.”

Thursday’s announcement comes one day after a few Columbia graduates set their diplomas on fire in protest of former student Mahmoud Khalil’s detention. Khalil was arrested by immigration agents in March and is at risk of being deported by the Trump administration after he was accused of leading the anti-Israel movement at Columbia.

Columbia is also down $400 million in federal funding after the Trump administration slashed budgets at universities accused of mishandling antisemitism on campus.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Columbia University for a response to the OCR’s findings. The school told The New York Times in response to the findings that it plans to work with the Trump administration to combat antisemtism on campus. 

“We understand this finding is part of our ongoing discussions with the government,” a spokesman told the paper.