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Trump Administration Begins Process Of Revoking Columbia’s Accreditation

The Department of Education on Wednesday announced that Columbia University “no longer appears” to meet accreditation standards due to student protests over Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, threatening the Ivy League institution’s accreditation status.

President Donald Trump and his administration argue that the protests constitute antisemitism and have been using the issue as ammunition in a culture war against elite institutions of higher education.

The Department of Education does not issue accreditation itself. Rather, it recognizes accrediting agencies, such as the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, of which Columbia is a member.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon pressured the Middle States Commission in a statement.

“Accreditors have an enormous public responsibility as gatekeepers of federal student aid. They determine which institutions are eligible for federal student loans and Pell Grants,” she said.

The Middle States Commission will now have to come up with a plan to address the issues. If Columbia does not cooperate, its accreditation could be revoked.

“We look forward to the Commission keeping the Department fully informed of actions taken to ensure Columbia’s compliance with accreditation standards including compliance with federal civil rights laws,” McMahon said.

The commission confirmed that it received a letter from the Department of Education but declined to comment any further.

A spokesperson for Columbia said the university was aware of the concerns and has addressed them “directly with Middle States.”

“Columbia is deeply committed to combating antisemitism on our campus. We take this issue seriously and are continuing to work with the federal government to address it,” the spokesperson said.

The Education Department’s civil rights office announced last week that it had determined Columbia’s leadership acted with “deliberate indifference toward the harassment of Jewish students, thereby violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” which states that programs receiving federal funds cannot discriminate on the basis of race, color or national origin.

Since retaking office, Trump has been targeting Columbia and other top-tier schools like Harvard for alleged antisemitism as Israel continues to raze the Gaza Strip and starve its inhabitants.

Trump canceled a whopping $400 million in federal grants to Columbia University back in March. While the school capitulated to the president’s demands, it did not result in a restoration of the funding; an additional $250 million in funds from the National Institutes of Health were frozen later.

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McMahon: We Want Harvard to Negotiate, ‘We’re Making Great Strides’ Negotiating with Columbia

On Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “America Reports,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon stated that the Trump administration’s ultimate goal is to try to get Harvard to negotiate with them to improve the school and that the administration has been able to do with Columbia University and said “I think that we’re making great strides” with Columbia.

McMahon stated, [relevant remarks begin around 1:00] “The goal really is to have Harvard come to the table, let’s negotiate, let’s work through the things that we have put forward that we believe are going to make things better on the campus of Harvard.”

She continued, “We did that with Columbia. I think that we’re making great strides. We also sent a letter — and I talked to Alan Garber before any of this action took place and told him what our goals were. We sent a letter to him, and it was a pretty stiff letter, but we were hoping that that would open the door to negotiations and the answer was a lawsuit, so that’s where we are today, but we really hope that we will be back at the table negotiating and talking about the things that are good for Harvard and for the students that are on campus.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett



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Graduates Boo Columbia President At Commencement While Noting Mahmoud Khalil’s Absence

Columbia University’s acting president has now faced a massive chorus of boos from this year’s graduating class for the second day in a row, receiving a particular wave of anger on Wednesday while noting the absence of Mahmoud Khalil — a student who would have graduated this week if federal immigration agents had not detained him for peacefully protesting on campus against Israel’s ongoing destruction of Gaza.

Upon stepping to the lectern Tuesday to deliver her graduation speech, acting President Claire Shipman was met with at least a full minute of boos and loud jeering.

“Good morning, Class of 2025. I know that many of you feel some amount of frustration with me, and I know you feel it with the administration,” Shipman said to more boos, captured in videos circulating social media.

“And I know that we have a strong, strong tradition of free speech at this university,” she continued while gesturing to the students. “And I am always open to feedback, which I am getting right now.”

Columbia University Acting President Claire Shipman welcomed to Columbia College’s graduation ceremony with sustained jeers and boos.

Minutes later, students break out in loud chants of “Free Mahmoud”: pic.twitter.com/QJit91wydm

— Prem Thakker (@prem_thakker) May 20, 2025

Later in her Tuesday speech, the crowd began chanting “Free Mahmoud,” in reference to the Syrian-born Palestinian who was one of many students and faculty targeted by Columbia for their activism during last year’s nationwide protests against the U.S.-supported war in Gaza. The university faced particular backlash for violently responding to students by bringing New York police on campus to quell the demonstrations, which Khalil helped organize.

Columbia was again embroiled in controversy earlier this year when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained Khalil — and, eventually, other foreign students around the U.S. — without charge for his pro-Palestinian activism. Instead of attending Wednesday’s commencement celebration, the graduate student and legal permanent resident is now fighting detention and deportation from an ICE holding center in Louisiana. Khalil has called himself a political prisoner.

“We firmly believe that our international students have the same rights to freedom of speech as everyone else and they should not be targeted by the government for exercising that right,” Shipman said during her commencement address on Wednesday to intensifying boos from the crowd. “Let me also say that I know many in our community today are mourning the absence of our graduate Mahmoud Khalil.”

Columbia was the first major university to cave to the Trump administration in what critics have called an assault on academic freedom and free speech, implementing the administration’s alarming policy recommendations while ICE agents continue to detain students.

One of those students is Mohsen Mahdawi, who was recently released after ICE detained him at his citizenship interview for protesting with Khalil at Columbia. Mahdawi attended graduation on Tuesday, donning his cap, gown and a Palestinian keffiyeh.

Mohsen Mahdawi holds a photo of Mahmoud Khalil while posing for a photo with demonstrators outside the gates of Columbia University after graduating, on Monday, May 19, 2025, in New York.

Jake Offenhartz via Associated Press

“I don’t know how they will be able to face me. They let me down as a student, they let me down as a partner who is working on peacemaking and bridge-building, and they let me down as a Palestinian who grieves so many family members,” Mahdawi told CBS News before Tuesday’s ceremony began. “So the message, I don’t know what they will make out of it, but I am here. I’m not going anywhere.”

On the same day Shipman acknowledged Khalil’s absence, the activist’s legal team said that ICE denied him the right to a contact visit with his child, who was born while he was in detention. His wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, said she flew from New York to Louisiana with their newborn son, Deen, just so Khalil could meet and hold him for the first time.

“I am furious at the cruelty and inhumanity of this system that dares to call itself just,” Abdalla said in a statement about the denial, which comes just weeks after ICE prevented Khalil from being physically present to support his wife during childbirth.

“This is not just heartless. It is deliberate violence, the calculated cruelty of a government that tears families apart without remorse,” said Abdalla, who is a U.S. citizen. “And I cannot ignore the echoes of this pain in the stories of Palestinian families, torn apart by Israeli military prisons and bombs denied dignity, denied life. Our struggle is not isolated. This system is unjust, and we will fight until Mahmoud is home.”



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Columbia University acting president booed during graduation speech, faces chants of

Columbia University acting President Claire Shipman was greeted with boos and chants of “free Mahmoud” as she took the lectern to speak at the school’s graduation ceremony on Tuesday.

Videos posted to social media showed Shipman pausing while students heckled her before she could begin speaking.

“I know that many of you feel some amount of frustration with me and I know you feel it with the administration. And I know that we have a strong, strong tradition of free speech at this university. And I am always open to feedback, which I am getting right now,” Shipman said at the start of her remarks, allowing for another round of boos after each sentence.

Later in her speech, Shipman was interrupted by students chanting “free Mahmoud,” in reference to Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student who was detained by immigration authorities in March in New York City and remains in custody in Louisiana. 

Despite his absence, Khalil’s name was read during the ceremony while students accepted their diplomas, prompting loud cheers from students in attendance, videos showed.

Khalil, a Syrian-born immigrant with legal U.S. permanent residency — also known as a green card —  was a vocal member of the student-led protests at Columbia against the war in Gaza. Khalil has not been accused of any crimes, but the Trump administration has argued he should be deported on the grounds that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has determined his presence in the U.S. and protest activities pose “adverse foreign policy consequences.” The administration has also accused Khalil of immigration fraud. His lawyers dispute both claims.

An immigration judge in Louisiana ruled last month that the administration could continue its effort to deport Khalil, saying she did not have the authority to dispute Rubio’s determination, which cites a rarely used law. She put the immigration fraud accusation on hold, however. A separate case is progressing in New Jersey, in which lawyers have challenged the legality of Khalil’s detention.

Khalil is among several college students who have been detained or had their visas revoked amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on what it says are antisemitic or pro-Hamas activities. Civil rights groups have criticized the moves, accusing the government of punishing students for their political beliefs and violating their First Amendment rights.

Among those targeted by the administration was Mohsen Mahdawi, a 34-year-old legal U.S. resident who was detained in mid-April during a citizenship interview in Vermont. He was released on April 30 after a Vermont federal judge ruled Mahdawi was likely being punished for protected speech.

Mahdawi graduated from Columbia on Monday, wearing a keffiyeh and displaying the scales of justice on his ceremonial cap as he accepted his diploma. Prior to the ceremony, he told CBS News he felt a “mix of emotions,” including a “feeling of being victorious.” He said he plans to return to the school to pursue a graduate degree. 

Shipman has been acting president of Columbia since late March, when she took over for interim President Katrina Armstrong, who herself had taken over when former university president Dr. Minouche Shafik resigned following criticism of her handling of the protests over the Israel-Hamas war and allegations of antisemitism on campus.

Jordan Freiman

Jordan Freiman is a news editor for CBSNews.com. He covers breaking news, trending stories, sports and crime. Jordan has previously worked at Spin and Death and Taxes.

Caitlin Yilek,

Joe Walsh,

Lilia Luciano and

Camilo Montoya-Galvez

contributed to this report.

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Columbia: Police Arrest Pro-Palestinian Protesters Occupying Library

Police arrested multiple pro-Palestinian protesters who occupied the Butler Library on the Columbia University campus on Wednesday.

The protesters, many wearing masks and kaffiyehs, were seen pushing through the security entrance at the Butler Library on Wednesday afternoon, where they played drums and “posted signs and stickers to free Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia grad who’s been detained by ICE,” per the New York Times. The protesters occupied the building in an attempt to recreate the events from last year.

The Columbia University Apartheid Divest movement declared in a Substack post that it occupied the library to “show that as long as Columbia funds and profits from imperialist violence, the people will continue to disrupt Columbia’s profits and legitimacy.”

The Trump administration has previously accused Columbia University of failing to thwart antisemitism on its campus, recently cutting $400 million in federal research funding to the school.

“Nearly an hour into the protest, the large group attempted to push through public safety and out of the reading room, but were stopped by personnel who asked for their identification cards,” reported the Times.

“Through a megaphone, one officer informed students that if they show ID, they will be allowed to leave ‘without issue,’ but failure to do so would make them subject to arrest,” it added.

The NYPD told Politico that “multiple” arrests had been made, without giving a specific number.

Columbia University said in a statement that students may face disciplinary action. “It is completely unacceptable that some individuals are choosing to disrupt academic activities as our students are studying and preparing for final exams,” the statement said.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) called for the school to take swift action in a post on X.

“While Columbia students try to study for finals, they’re being bombarded with chants for a ‘global intifada,’” Stefanik said. “President @realDonaldTrump is right: not a single taxpayer dollar should go to a university that allows chaos, antisemitism, and civil rights violations on its campus. Columbia must act — enough is enough.”

Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning Christian tech thriller, EXEMPLUM, which has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes critic rating and can be viewed for FREE on YouTube, Tubi, or Fawesome TV. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free rental can also be streamed on Google Play, Vimeo on Demand, or YouTube Movies. Follow him on X @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.



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