Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist, became a focal point of the Trump administration's increasing hostility towards elite educational institutions. Columbia, alongside other prestigious universities, has faced criticism for its perceived inadequate response to antisemitism and protests against the Gaza war. Legal actions, including class action suits over how universities handle these situations, highlight the tension on campus. With federal grants at risk and calls for more severe federal intervention against universities, there is ongoing debate about the future of higher education and its relationship with government funding.
In a very short time, Mahmoud Khalil, the former Columbia University graduate student and pro-Palestinian activist who was questionably detained by federal immigration officials, has become a symbol of the Trump administration's escalating antagonism toward elite universities.
Columbia finds itself up against the impression that whatever it has done to combat what it perceived as antisemitism...it has not been nearly punitive enough.
Still, Mr. Lichtman believes that the university is so rife with hatred and disrespect for Jewish interests that it should be taken over by the federal government at least in the short term.
The goal of the current White House to dismantle higher education...has elicited alarm from many quarters, but it is striking how little we have heard from the megadonor class.
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