Rick Scott threatens federal defunding of Columbia University

Rick Scott. Image via AP.

Anti-Israel protests in the Ivy League continue to raise the ire of U.S. Sen. Rick Scott.

In a letter to the Board of Columbia University, Florida’s junior Senator insists that they clamp down on protests that have made Jewish students feel threatened on campus, or run the risk of forfeiting federal funding if they don’t take “immediate action needed to bring safety, security and peace back” to campus.

Scott wrote that the Board “must use the power of your position to demand action from the administration, or remove the current leadership and put in place an administration that will ensure the safety of your students.”

“If you fail to do this, Congress will act. We will not sit silently while American students are threatened by terrorist sympathizers that call for the eradication of Jewish people and the destruction of Israel. This is not free speech, it is violence,” Scott added.

Protesters at Columbia have delivered some of the most pitched protest actions, with calls to Jewish students to “go back to Poland” in what is a clear attempt to invoke the horrors of the Holocaust, which led to the systematic killing of 90% of Poland’s once-vibrant Jewish population.

It is not likely that the current response from Columbia will mollify Scott.

“Over the past days, there have been too many examples of intimidating and harassing behavior on our campus. Antisemitic language, like any other language that is used to hurt and frighten people, is unacceptable and appropriate action will be taken,” wrote President Minouche Shafik.

Shafik added that the university was moving to hybrid classes in lieu of mandatory in-person instruction, given the security issues on campus at the institution where a year’s attendance costs upwards of $66,000 a year.

Shafik contended that “tensions have been exploited and amplified by individuals who are not affiliated with Columbia who have come to campus to pursue their own agendas.”

Scott is sponsoring the “Stop Antisemitism on College Campuses Act,” which “rescinds federal education funding for colleges and universities that support, authorize, or facilitate events that promote antisemitism.”

A severance of federal funding would have a limited effect on the New York City school’s very healthy endowment.

“For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, the total value of the endowment was $13.64 billion. Columbia University produced a return of 4.7% on the managed assets in its endowment portfolio for FY23,” the school notes.

A relatively modest $632 million was spent “in support of students, faculty, and University activities” from that kitty in the same period, which is just over 5%, marginally more than the return on institutional investments.