{"id":176671,"date":"2025-03-11T11:43:07","date_gmt":"2025-03-11T10:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=176671"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:43","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:43","slug":"trump-penalises-columbia-university-with-400-million-dollar-cut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2025\/03\/11\/trump-penalises-columbia-university-with-400-million-dollar-cut\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump penalises Columbia University with 400 million dollar cut"},"content":{"rendered":"

The US government is cutting around 400 million dollars in funding for the prestigious Columbia University. According to the government, the university has failed to adequately protect Jewish students.<\/p>\n

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Pro-Palestine protest at Columbia University in April 2024.<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>

The penalty of 400 million dollars (369 million euros) was decided on within a few days. An investigation was announced on Monday, with the results coming on Friday. This could happen to other universities as well, according to the announcement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to the government of Donald Trump, Columbia University did not adequately protect Jewish students during the student protests that erupted following Israel\u2019s retaliation for the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023.<\/p>\n

Criticism<\/h2>

Opinions on this matter diverge<\/a>. Critics label the sudden budget cuts an unconstitutional attempt to stifle freedom of speech. Moreover, the Republicans\u2019 fight against antisemitism is seen as hypocritical and opportunistic<\/a>, given the antisemites within their own ranks.<\/p>\n

Particularly notable is Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, who among other things believed<\/a> that Jews caused wildfires with space lasers. Nevertheless, Trump supported<\/a> her in her election campaign.<\/p>\n

Antisemitism<\/h2>

The accusations from Trump and his administration aren\u2019t totally unexpected. The student protests at American universities have put administrators\u2019 neutrality to the test. It escalated to the point where even the US House of Representatives intervened and summoned administrators<\/a> at the end of 2023. Last August, the president of Columbia stepped down<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The university, with an annual budget of around 6.6 billion dollars, had been bracing for<\/a> a budget cut for some time. Columbia launched a webpage<\/a> last week dedicated to combating antisemitism and previously attempted<\/a> to refute criticism, but to no avail.<\/p>\n

A scoreboard<\/a> from the pro-Israel Anti-Defamation League summarises the situation. The university does almost everything right. You can eat kosher, there is a Jewish student life, and the university collaborates with Israeli institutions. But there are also fierce anti-Zionist activists opposing the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Arrested<\/h2>

Trump intends to send<\/a> millions of migrants back to their countries of origin, especially if they participate in demonstrations that are deemed illegal by his administration. Last week, a Palestinian student from Columbia University was arrested<\/a> for his role in the protests.<\/p>\n\n\t

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