(NEW YORK) — Earlier this week, three government agencies, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Education (ED), and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), announced they will conduct a comprehensive review of Columbia University’s federal contracts and grants to ensure compliance with civil rights law, particularly around reports of unaddressed antisemitism on campus. The announcement comes following a request from House committee members last September to ensure campuses hosting “unacceptable antisemitic behavior” do not receive federal funding or contracts.
In response, Kristen Shahverdian, program director for Campus Free Speech at PEN America said:
“This is an extreme overreach that seems designed to intimidate Columbia and other universities rather than address any actual civil rights violations. Universities must take urgent actions in the face of rising concerns about antisemitism as part of their basic obligations under Title VI, to ensure that all students can participate fully and equally in campus life. But these institutions also need to be given space, time, and resources to implement programs and processes to confront and resolve hate and bigotry, not be subjected to government threats and investigations initiated to achieve a political end. The government is creating threats to universities based on vague definitions to promote political priorities in the name of civil rights. ”
PEN America has previously criticized government adoption of vague or overbroad definitions of antisemitism that can trigger severe penalties that may undermine free expression protections, particularly around criticism of Israel. Similarly, PEN America has highlighted how overbroad definitions of “illegal DEI” from President Trump and the Department of Education can lead to chilling effects on free expression and academic freedom within higher education, including cancelled conferences and events.
Shahverdian continued: “Federal research funding at Columbia now hangs in the balance, in the hands of an administration that is weaponizing nearly every instrument it has to suppress ideas it disfavors and pressure institutions into enforcing ideological alignment. The threat is sure to reverberate across the higher education sector, just as it seems intended to do.”
About PEN America
PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. Learn more at pen.org.
Contact: Malka Margolies, [email protected]