Columbia Watch - Protect Our Campus

In response to federal scrutiny, defunded grants, and rising antisemitism, Protect Our Campus is monitoring Columbia University’s every move.

Since February 2025, Columbia University became the epicenter of a national reckoning over campus extremism, antisemitism, and foreign influence. Following pressure from the Trump administration and the loss of $430M in federal grants, the university pledged to comply with Executive Orders that prohibit support for terror and hate speech. This page is our watchdog response.

We are currently monitoring

Compliance with federal Executive Orders regarding foreign nationals and terror support.
Faculty and student involvement in antisemitic or violent protests.
Columbia's policies on campus safety, hate speech, and disciplinary action.
Restoration (or continued denial) of federal funds.

Columbia Compliance

Is Columbia Complying with Federal Mandates?

A real-time log of Columbia University’s responses – both actions and failures – in enforcing federal Executive Orders and campus safety directives.

✅ Actions Taken

✔️ February 25 Barnard College announces it has expelled two students involved in January’s classroom disruption.

✔️ March 13 Columbia University expels, suspends and revokes degrees of 22 students who participated in occupying Hamilton Hall last spring.

✔️ March 21 Columbia’s board and interim President Katrina Armstrong agree to implement most of the Trump administration’s demands as a condition to restore federal funds.

✔️ April 10 Columbia’s new president Shipman announced that she would terminate all appeal process of disciplined workers. This means that all the disciplinary sanctions taken by the university will remain as is.

✔️ April 19 The university president has announced that the Senate (the university’s governing body) will be reformed.

✔️ April 27 Columbia radicals scrapped their encampment plans after the university threatened arrests—and pushed protesters to show up elsewhere.

✔️ May 13 Columbia posted a warning against disruptions at the graduation ceremony.

❌ Failures & Violations

❌ January 21 Masked protesters storm and disrupt Columbia class on Israel.

❌ February 26 Over 50 masked protesters occupy Barnard’s Milbank Hall on Feb. 26, blocking entrances and assaulting a college employee, who is sent to the hospital.

❌ March 4 More than 200 protesters assemble at Columbia to oppose a campus event featuring former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

❌ March 5 Barnard library unauthorized sit-in ends with bomb-scare evacuation.

❌ April 16 Columbia professor Joseph Howley shares statement from the Columbia Philosophy Department expressing “horror and dismay” at Mahdawi detention.

❌ April 17 Pro-Palestinian groups at Columbia organized a “Day of Action” against Trump’s alleged intent to place Columbia under the control of a federal judge. The post calls students to miss classes and attend rallies with masks.

❌ April 19 Pro-Palestinian groups are planning a screening of the movie “The Encampments”, promoting the illegal encampments of 2024, which features university professors from Columbia.

❌ April 22 The Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition protestors have shut down one of the main/only entrances to campus for two hours now while their chanting and drumming and chaining themselves to a gate.

❌ April 23 According to a report from NBC news, Columbia students are planning to establish a new encampment “this week”. The newspaper reportedly received leaked screenshots from Signal chats, regarding a ‘secret’ planning meeting that took place in Bushwick on April 22.

❌ April 25 The office doors of professors at Columbia, Barnard, and Yale all display pro-Palestine posters that are strikingly similar and contain antisemitic messages.

❌ May 6 Columbia University faculty members hold a silent vigil in the rain, holding up placards of Mahmoud Khalil, Rümeysa Öztürk, and Badar Khan Suri - students who have been arrested and detained by federal immigration authorities.

❌ May 7 Pro-Palestinian protesters occupied Columbia University’s Butler Library, defying a federal mask ban and causing property damage. More than 70 protesters were arrested by New York police following the library occupation.

❌ May 13 Columbia JVP called for the boycott of Hillel.

❌ May 13 "Let’s Talk Palestine" has released a series of Instagram posts detailing what they claim to be a long history of Zionist assault on pro-Palestinian activists.

📉 Federal Impact

❗ January 29 President Trump signs Executive Order 14188: Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism, mandating aggressive federal action against antisemitism on campuses.

❗ February 3 The US Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights opened an antisemitism investigation into Columbia.

❗ February 4 Justice Department Announces Formation of Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism.

❗ March 2 The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) launches a Title VI investigation into Columbia University.

❗ March 3 The multi-agency Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism announces a “comprehensive review” of Columbia’s federal funding.

❗ March 7 The federal government canceled $400 million in grants to Columbia.

❗ March 9 ICE arrests pro-Hamas activist, Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia graduate and green-card holder, for “[leading] activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.”

❗ March 10 U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights Sends Letters to 60 Universities Under Investigation for Antisemitic Discrimination and Harassment.

❗ March 13 The administration sent a letter requiring the university to comply with a number of enforcement, disciplinary, and remedial measures by March 20, 2025.

❗ March 14 Trump administration terminated an additional $30 million in grants to the university.

❗ March 14 DOJ investigates Columbia for ‘harboring’ illegal participants.

❗ March 26 The Senate required information regarding SJP activity on Columbia and Barnard campuses.

❗ March 27 Secretary of State Marco Rubio says 300 student visas have been revoked, including detentions at Tufts, Columbia and more.

❗ April 10 The Trump administration plans to pursue a consent decree that would place Columbia University under federal oversight following concerns about the university's handling of alleged antisemitism on campus.

❗ April 11 Congressional Republicans have announced that they were opening an investigation into all the Ivy League Universities for alleged violation of antitrust laws.

❗ April 12 An immigration judge ruled that Mahmoud Khalil can be deported, citing national security concerns due to his participation in pro-Palestinian protests.

❗ April 14 Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian-born green card holder living in Vermont for the last 10 years, was detained while attending an immigration interview at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Mahdawi is a Columbia student and has been organizing pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the last year at Columbia University.

❗ April 27 A judge ruled that Columbia will have a right of response after the Senate demanded that the university share information about its chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.

❗ May 5 President Trump's administration proposes a “consent decree” for Columbia university that would “install federal oversight and give a judge responsibility for enforcing changes to the university’s practices”.

News & Reports Feed

Real-time updates on federal enforcement, internal shakeups, campus unrest, and growing public backlash.

Radicalization on Campus: Protesters Now Admit Armed Violence Is Next

Columbia Is Burning – And Its Leaders Are Watching

The Barstool Philadelphia Incident: A Disturbing Reflection of Rising Extremism on U.S. Campuses

Columbia’s Collapse: What Katrina Armstrong’s Testimony Reveals About Institutional Antisemitism

Why Cutting Columbia’s Federal Funding Is the Right Move

When Student Activism Crosses the Line: Columbia Protesters Sued for Alleged Ties to Hamas

Deporting Mahmoud Khalil is Just the Beginning – It’s Time to Go After the Faculty Enabling Campus Extremism

U.S. Judge Rules Mahmoud Khalil Can Be Deported for Leading Extremist, Antisemitic Activities at Columbia

U.S. Revokes Over 300 Student Visas Tied to Pro-terror Activity Across Elite Universities

Columbia Names New President Who Dismissed Antisemitism Hearings as “Nonsense”

Trump Admin Slashes $400M in Columbia University Funding Over Antisemitism Concerns

Federal Crackdown on Columbia University’s Funding: A Major Win Against Campus Antisemitism!

The Tides are Turning: Jewish Students Feel Safer as Campus Protests Decline

Federal Antisemitism Task Force Launches Civil Rights Review Into Several Medical Schools

Trump’s Bold Move Against Campus Extremism: A Long-Awaited Return to Sanity

Trump Orders Crackdown on Antisemitism, Deportation for Visa-Holding Protesters

Congressman Ritchie Torres Calls for Action Against Antisemitism at Columbia University

Profiles of Concern

Protect Our Campus has documented individuals and organizations who continue to influence Columbia’s climate of extremism.

Submit a Tip

Do you have inside knowledge of violations, unsafe campus conditions, or radical activity at Columbia?

Submit a Report →

External Resources & References

Link-out to relevant information:

External Links

Columbia is not just a university. It’s a symbol of elite academic power. But when hate thrives under its banner, it sends a dangerous message to campuses nationwide.

Columbia Watch exists to ensure there are consequences.