Thursday, May 29, 2025
Columbia on Notice: Federal Investigation Concludes University Violated Jewish Students’ Civil Rights
Columbia University has violated the civil rights of Jewish students for going on two years, a federal investigation concludes.
"Columbia University violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by acting with deliberate indifference towards student-on-student harassment of Jewish students," the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Education (DOE) revealed in investigatory findings released last week.
The lengthy report concludes a three-month investigation into Columbia by the Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, a group of four federal agencies, including DOE and HHS, tasked with finding and prosecuting "perpetrators of unlawful antisemitic harassment and violence."
Now, the school is on official notice. It must comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act or face the Department of Justice in court — and risk losing $5 billion in federal funding.
Title VI
Title VI forbids federally-funded institutions from discriminating against people on the grounds of race, color or national origin, including denying them benefits conferred to others or excluding them from activities.
The federal government can revoke funding to institutions that violate Title VI, but only after proving it in court. To show Columbia violated Jewish students' civil rights, the Department of Justice must prove:
Jewish students at Columbia experienced "severe or pervasive" harassment due to their race, skin color or nationality.
Columbia knew about the harassment.
Columbia could have done something about the harassment.
Columbia was "deliberately indifferent" to the harassment, which could include failing to respond to complaints, only responding after a "lengthy and unjustified delay," or responding in a way that is "clearly unreasonable in light of the known circumstances."
DOE and HHS cite evidence proving each of these points. If Columbia fails to address the violations voluntarily, the Department of Justice will take the school to court.
Findings
The report paints a picture of an institution unwilling or unable to protect Jewish students — despite lip service to the contrary.
It describes frequent, unsanctioned protests preventing Jewish students from accessing library and research facilities or making them afraid to walk to class; references passages from Columbia's own internal antisemitism reports, which describe pro-Hamas students shouting genocidal slurs like, "Yes Hamas, we love you, we support your rockets, too"; and highlights the experiences of students like Eden Yadegar, who testified before the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce in February 2024.
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