Columbia University drew national media attention last year for sometimes chaotic campus demonstrations against the war in Gaza.
Now it’s drawing attention from the Trump administration, which has targeted the university for financial punishment, arrests and deportations of students ostensibly accused of antisemitism and colluding with terrorist groups.
Federal authorities have been unclear about what crimes students allegedly committed. But students say the unwanted government scrutiny has had a chilling effect on the free exchange of ideas and has distracted from studies — two of the prestigious university’s core functions.
“Generally I’m more careful about what I say because I’m scared something could be taken out of context or looked at more harshly than it needs to be,” said Columbia senior Jack Jonathan. “I would like not to have to worry about every single thing I do, or people randomly filming students, or all the gates up.”
It has been a turbulent week on campus.
The Trump administration announced a freeze of $400 million in federal grants for the university last Friday, alleging “relentless violence, intimidation, and antisemitic harassment” on campus. Since then, it became clear that Columbia was being singled out.
On Saturday, ICE agents arrested former graduate student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, accusing him of supporting Hamas. Khalil “completely and vehemently denies” those allegations and has no connections to Hamas, according to one of his attorneys, Ramzi Kassem, a CUNY law professor and the founding director of CLEAR, or Creating Law Enforcement Accountability and Responsibility.
Khalil’s lawyers say he is being detained without having been accused of a crime. They released a video of his arrest, apparently shot by his pregnant wife, showing ICE agents ignoring her pleas for information as he was taken away in handcuffs.
The university sent a campuswide email on Thursday announcing the expulsions and suspensions of multiple students who occupied Hamilton Hall last year as part of protests against the war in Gaza. Officials said it was the culmination of a lengthy process that included hearings by the University Judicial Board.
Then on Thursday night, federal immigration agents searched two student residences, though interim President Katrina Armstrong said no one was detained. In a letter to students and staff she said she was “heartbroken” to deliver the news of the search, but added that longstanding university policy, like those of many cities and institutions, requires compliance with search warrants from a federal judge.
On Friday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem put out a statement announcing her agency had revoked the visa of an urban planning doctoral student at Columbia from India, Ranjani Srinivasan, saying she was involved in activities supporting Hamas. The agency said Srinivasan had “self-deported.”
Noem also said a Palestinian student, Leqaa Kordia, was arrested by ICE agents based in Newark for overstaying a student visa. The agency said Kordia had been involved in “pro-Hamas protests” at Columbia. But a spokesperson for the university said it had no record of Kordia having ever been a student.
Neither Kordia nor Srinivasan could be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, there were two protests outside campus, and students and staff had to navigate a maze of police barricades to enter. Helicopters circled and helmeted police officers monitored the crowds. Free speech was far from dead, but the atmosphere was tense, and closely monitored.
“Fearmongering is getting in the way of education,” said Johanna Sommer, a student at the university’s Graduate School of Journalism. “Students should be able to organize. That’s the principle of education that’s in our Constitution that people are no longer defending.”
“We should have the right to be protesting all the time without a f—-ing huge line forming on Broadway,” said Mariana deJesus, another journalism graduate student. “It’s annoying and it’s sort of intimidating to be walking into school and having all these weenie police officers just like ‘ID out!’ and being super aggressive when we’re just going to school. How much do we f—ing pay for this place and it’s a hassle to get in.”
Sommer added that, as a Jewish student, she never felt unsafe on campus, contrary to the Trump administration’s characterization of the university as rife with antisemitism.
“What I see as a misinterpretation of anti-Zionism as antisemitism is just a big distraction,” she said. “And as a Jewish student I’ve never felt unsafe here in any way.”
She said Khalil was being wrongfully detained and should be freed.
But Melissa Rosten, a parent visiting campus with her daughter, a prospective graduate student, said she was pleased to see the extra layers of security.
“We’re Jewish and I know that there have been a lot of issues,” she said. “It seems very secure now which makes me feel happy. Because I was a little nervous … They’re taking every precaution, which I think is very good.”
In her letter on Thursday, Armstrong said the university was under “immense stress” but the school would persevere.
“Despite the unprecedented challenges, Columbia University will remain a place where the pursuit of knowledge is cherished and fiercely protected, where the rule of law and due process is respected and never taken for granted, and where all members of our community are valued and able to thrive,” she wrote in a late-night email. “These are the principles we uphold and that guide us every day.”
Armstrong ended her message with a list of mental health and religious resources she said students could access at the university. A spokesperson for the school declined to comment further on the federal searches.
Andrew Giambrone contributed reporting.