It is crazy that they think they are "protecting" Columbia's Jewish students by literally defunding the institution that they attend. "We have destroyed Columbia University. Thank us for protecting you, Jewish Columbia students!"
It’s a research university. Those scientific breakthroughs, engineering innovations, philosophical understandings and advanced data collection don’t all happen in service of profit motive.
Oh, yes, hark to the plans to combat antisemitism from the administration that was blaming opposition to tariffs on “globalists” (checks notes) yesterday.
They pandered to fascists by slandering, expelling and happily letting NYPD beat the shit out of anti genocide protesters, and they still had their funding slashed.
Almost like being a collaborator doesn’t work. Leopards ate their faces anyway.
"Protect Jewish students" as if many of those leading the protests weren't Jewish.
They don't give a shit about Jewish people. In fact, they know that this will lead to more antisemitism. Using anti-antisemitism to justify their overreach, hoping that the public will turn against Jews and not them.
I still can’t understand how between outrageous tuitions that have grown much faster than inflation and constant donations from alumni that these schools can still be so reliant on government money that they basically will eat shit to get it.
This is why China and Israel are out performing American institutions. Just one more distraction/setback after another. Hollywood created pop cultures, drugs, and engagement in the civic defense of our democracy. Our students are working in the traditions of American life. It's messy, for sure.
I don't think there is any evidence to suggest Columbia cares all that deeply about students right to protest but if they are going to lose funding either way why would they not challenge it?
Right. My point is they need to challenge it. At least if you believe the second post which states the plan is to kill funding even if they fully comply.
People in the thread piling on Columbia's crisis decision-making misunderstand the gravity of what's occurring. The government attacking its own crown jewel academic institutions — for political purposes — is suicidal. If Trump, Rufo and Miller "win," all Americans lose. This is code red.
Our colleges were the last bastion of the things that America was known for. People from all over the world aspired to attend our colleges. He’s destroying that too. No American dream. No Ivy League. No safety nets. No safe haven. All we have left is greed.
I'm against the leadership of Columbia, who should all, to a person, be looking for new jobs right now. They should all be on the unemployment line, and considered unemployable by any other university.
Yep.
Again, people are picking the wrong target in the ideological blame game.
I live in/near Columbia and saw it first hand.
What we are seeing now is not a result of the cops arresting protesters.
It is about the MONTHS of protests being recorded + weaponized by the far right to destroy higher ed.
I can't predict what will happen.
But this university is now in danger of destruction.
And they are extremely connected, wealthy, etc. so do have resources to fight back.
So we're going to see some thing go down.
Where it ends who can say?
The maga genie is out the bottle, hellbent on destruction.
Difficult without a president, but I strongly believe the Ivies should band together to fill the budget gap (continue all programs) and act as a unified force. Releasing statements together. Going to court together, etc. This is not about Columbia. It's about the future of academic freedom.
Not just "freedom" per se, but 10s of billions of dollars of invaluable intellectual and economic growth and resources.
Jobs.
Research on every topic and technology imaginable.
Civilization itself.
This is a huge deal.
Major universities will have to go to war with the feds or be crushed.
Organize every way you can! All the Universities must stand together like Science is today! We need to become as passionate about protesting and other civil disobedience as France and Georgia!🇬🇪
Unclear exactly how the pushback will occur.
It may be mostly about the courts in the end rather than demonstrations.
Sadly, students (and even some teachers) seem to hate the schools as much as the magas do, just from the opposite side.
I don't know what things will look like in a few years.
Columbia became ground zero for media attention for MONTHS.
The university was in an impossible position.
Either become a permanent protest site (and be blamed by one "side") or eventually (after many months) shut it down.
And be blamed by the other "side".
The president resigned over the mess.
They STILL don't have a replacement president because nobody wants the gig.
The gates of the campus are still locked to the public.
Nothing they do will not bring severe negative consequences of one kind or another.
And the trumpmusk destruction of NYC and America continues on.
This will sound crazy, but while Columbia fights this reckless attack in court, the Ivy League should use (ie "invade") their endowments to help Columbia fill the budget hole. Defy the government en masse. The Ivory Tower need not stand down. Just quietly close ranks.
The Ivory Tower (Ivies + MIT + Stanford plus UC + UT etc) in the US has a ton of resources and clout. They need to step up to protect Columbia. Lock arms. Time to rally.
Columbia attacked students for expressing their first amendment rights. Universities should protect their students’ rights against the federal govt and law enforcement.
Jewish students harmed by the cancellation of funding utterly irrelevant. And in greater in number than any actually harmed in any way by anti-Isreali opinions.
Congratulations America...Musk has a plan to import people from countries with a still functioning education system. The great news is this labor will be cheaper and will be less inclined to stand up for themselves. There will be no need for anything more than a HS diploma. You're welcome
The wildest part in all of this is that these christo-facists HATE the Jewish people. They blame them for killing their Jesus, and are only supporting Israel because their book says their Jesus will only come back to them after the Armageddon that has to happen on Isreali soil
Dems supporting the Columbia crackdown was double dumb. It alienated the left going into the election AND made it harder for them to mobilize street pressure against Trump now.
The 'left' that would protest regardless is small. You often have a hardcore nucleus, and you need the center to move with that nucleus. That will not happen.
Whose main advisor liked a tweet after 10/7 saying that Jews deserved it because they supported civil rights and immigration and then did a Nazi salute at the inauguration.
Is this not against the First Amendment? And if a University banned (peaceful) political protest would that not violate the First Amendment? I don’t know, I’m not American, but if you’re going to have a Constitution that’s not adhered to, then it’s a waste of time.
If this administration really wanted to protect Jewish students it would throw the anti-semites out of the administration. But we all know that isn’t what this is really about.
that republicans were interested in finding a way to “destroy” Columbia—whether they complied w/ their demands or not—was no secret. they literally wrote about it.
At this point Columbia should say "that's less than the one year growth in our endowment and a small price to pay for academic freedom, we'll take the hit and outlive you" but since they're a hedge fund w a school attached they're going to grovel
I absolutely hate your current President, and pray for his early downfall. It is a true statement, however, that Columbia University was one of the worst offenders in allowing (and by extension supporting) pro-Hamas radicals, and terrorism. What goes around comes around.
Defending Palestine does not mean supporting Hamas. Criticizing Israeli policy is not anti-Semitic. Believing in freedom of speech is not the same as supporting every idea that he's spoken.
they CANT destroy the storied reputation of Columbia worldwide. Everybody knows Republicans are salivating to have their children get into Columbia ! Admit it, Republicans !! You dont have to bribe school authorities to get in there unlike others !
Columbia and Penn and many other schools sent the police in on their students, sided with pro-Israel protestors, fired staff.......mistakenly thinking that was going to be enough to stop the Rufo/far-right led attack on the higher education system
They didn't do it to comply in advance with an admin they didn't know was going to win the election or not. They did it because doing so already aligned with their values. Trump/Vought/etc. are just looking for ways to punish education AND protest at once is all.
The target here is modern university culture. Columbia (and Barnard) have long traditions of supporting Jewish students. They’ve struggled with the Gaza protests, sure, but this is not about anti-semitism, it’s about culture and dissent. Academia has to push back: halt federal work.
The cuts are probably directed at subjects that embraces terrorism as long as it’s committed by brown people. We’ve seen quite a lot of that from Columbia.
Comments
This is just a bullying lie—aggressively gaslighting the world and making a mockery of anybody who took them at face value.
https://news.columbia.edu/news/13-columbia-science-discoveries-had-impact-2024
Aside from giving their antintellectual children degrees in binge drinking, marketing and sporting events.
Almost like being a collaborator doesn’t work. Leopards ate their faces anyway.
They don't give a shit about Jewish people. In fact, they know that this will lead to more antisemitism. Using anti-antisemitism to justify their overreach, hoping that the public will turn against Jews and not them.
The lawsuit brought by Columbia over this will be epic.
But they will bend the knee
Again, people are picking the wrong target in the ideological blame game.
I live in/near Columbia and saw it first hand.
What we are seeing now is not a result of the cops arresting protesters.
It is about the MONTHS of protests being recorded + weaponized by the far right to destroy higher ed.
But this university is now in danger of destruction.
And they are extremely connected, wealthy, etc. so do have resources to fight back.
So we're going to see some thing go down.
Where it ends who can say?
The maga genie is out the bottle, hellbent on destruction.
Difficult without a president, but I strongly believe the Ivies should band together to fill the budget gap (continue all programs) and act as a unified force. Releasing statements together. Going to court together, etc. This is not about Columbia. It's about the future of academic freedom.
Jobs.
Research on every topic and technology imaginable.
Civilization itself.
This is a huge deal.
Major universities will have to go to war with the feds or be crushed.
It may be mostly about the courts in the end rather than demonstrations.
Sadly, students (and even some teachers) seem to hate the schools as much as the magas do, just from the opposite side.
I don't know what things will look like in a few years.
The university was in an impossible position.
Either become a permanent protest site (and be blamed by one "side") or eventually (after many months) shut it down.
And be blamed by the other "side".
The president resigned over the mess.
The gates of the campus are still locked to the public.
Nothing they do will not bring severe negative consequences of one kind or another.
And the trumpmusk destruction of NYC and America continues on.
This is not a test. This is the real deal.
Congratulations America...Musk has a plan to import people from countries with a still functioning education system. The great news is this labor will be cheaper and will be less inclined to stand up for themselves. There will be no need for anything more than a HS diploma. You're welcomePlease consider reposting it.
A app like "Google Lens" can identify all text in a second and you need just to copy&paste it into the ALT-text field.
But, that being said, any school gouging students like this perhaps doesn't need to exist anymore.
Tracking AIPAC: The Trump Administration
🧵thread
https://bsky.app/profile/edhirsch.bsky.social/post/3lisnuqwfak2e