Columbia University has initiated a sweeping investigation into students involved in anti-Israel protests, a move that comes as the Trump administration ramps up its threats to slash federal funding to universities accused of tolerating disruptive campus activism. The university’s newly formed Office of Institutional Equity has sent disciplinary notices to dozens of students, targeting actions ranging from posting inflammatory social media content to participating in unauthorized demonstrations that have roiled the campus.

The investigation follows months of escalating tensions at Columbia, where anti-Israel protests have frequently disrupted academic life and drawn sharp criticism for crossing into harassment and intimidation. Last spring, protesters occupied campus buildings, clashed with authorities, and plastered the university with provocative slogans and imagery—actions that critics say created a hostile environment for Jewish students and faculty. Now, with President Donald Trump vowing to crack down on what he calls “illegal protests,” Columbia appears to be taking decisive steps to appease federal authorities and protect its $51 million in government contracts, which the administration has threatened to pull.

Columbia’s updated harassment policy, rolled out last summer, is at the heart of the probe. The policy deems criticism of a country’s policies—such as Israel’s—harassment if it includes “discriminatory comments” about individuals tied to that nation or employs “code words” that could imply bias. Under this framework, students like Maryam Alwan, a senior who penned an op-ed in the Columbia Spectator calling for divestment from Israel, have been hauled before the disciplinary committee. Alwan’s piece, which also demanded the university sever academic ties with Israel, was flagged as potentially subjecting others to “unwelcome conduct” based on religion or national origin. Possible sanctions range from warnings to expulsion.

The Trump administration’s influence looms large over Columbia’s actions. On Monday, federal agencies announced they were reviewing the university’s funding, citing its “ongoing inaction in the face of relentless harassment of Jewish students.” President Trump has doubled down, promising on social media to halt federal support to schools that permit such protests and to deport foreign students involved. “Agitators will be imprisoned or permanently sent back to the country from which they came,” Trump posted on Tuesday, signaling a hardline stance that has put universities like Columbia on edge.

Critics of the protesters argue that their tactics have long crossed the line from free expression into intimidation. Last month, masked demonstrators stormed a History of Modern Israel class, distributing flyers featuring a crushed Star of David and calls to “Burn Zionism to the Ground.” Earlier this week, anti-Israel groups bragged online about vandalizing a Columbia Business School building with red paint and clogging toilets with cement-like substances.

Columbia’s administration has defended its response to these actions, saying, “We are resolute that calling for, promoting, or glorifying violence or terror has no place at our university.”

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