CBD undertakes a little thought experiment.
Let’s play a little game… pretend that a group of “White Supremacists” (yeah, I know, they mostly don’t exist) decided to parade across the Columbia University quad in KKK garb, then set up a “camp” where they built little gallows for mock lynchings. Oh, add in some signs about how the Emancipation Proclamation was an existential evil, and integration is genocide. And if we really want to add some spice to this, let’s have the participants harass and sometimes attack every black person they see, and trash some buildings for good measure.
Sounds like fun, doesn’t it! How long do you think these protesters would last before a few hundred NYPD riot police busted their heads, fighting for the privilege with thousands of counter-protesters from all over the country? How many robe-clad-racists would survive unscathed to make it to jail? And imagine the very public trials for dozens of insane and imagined charges cooked up by foaming-at-the-mouth prosecutors salivating at the thought of throwing some 20-year-old dipshit into jail for 10 years!
We can have a robust discussion about whether this is constitutionally protected free speech (obviously not including physical violence), and that is an important discussion to be had in America. But the obvious difference between our imaginary protest and the very real and violent protests on the campus of Columbia University is that the administration of the university did nothing to protect the Jewish students from real danger, and did almost nothing to the protesters in spite of their clear and obvious violations of dozens of university rules, and state and federal law.
Where were the U.S. Marshalls escorting Jewish students to class? Where was the 101st Airborne protecting the campus?
They were nowhere to be found, because the administration of one of the oldest and most prestigious (hah!) universities in the world decided that violent Jew-hate is an acceptable expression of free speech. It is as simple as that.
And in a simpler world that would be incredibly distasteful but legal (again, not including violence). After all, free speech that is anodyne is trivial. True free speech is offensive and challenging. But the second Columbia University accepted one penny of public money, they were bound by the strictures of the various federal and state laws governing discrimination, namely Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Columbia failed to protect its Jewish students from discrimination based on their religion.
If Columbia University is institutionally anti-Semitic, anti-Zionist, and anti-Israel, and I believe they are, then they have a straightforward way of being allowed to express those opinions. Stop taking government money. Easy-Peasy! But they won’t because they can’t! They suckle at the government teat to the tune of $5 billion! So they are stuck! And it is glorious!
Hm…well, could be, could be. CBD is a lot more gleeful than I am about what looks to me like a mere token response from God-Emperor Trump.
The Trump administration announced on Friday that it will rescind more than $400 million in federal grants to Columbia University, citing concerns over rising antisemitism on campus and the school’s failure to address it.
Earlier this week, the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Education (DoED) and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced the initiation of a “comprehensive review” of more than $5 billion in federal grant money that goes to Columbia, “in light of ongoing investigations for potential violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act” related to antisemitism on campus.
I hope this hurts them. And I hope that every wealthy Jewish alum will stop giving. And I hope that no Jewish students apply to Columbia. And I hope that the massive corporate money flow to Columbia will slow to a trickle, because all of a sudden, it is appropriate for corporations to examine their funding of overtly racist programs (DEI anyone?). And yes, I am aware that some of this is a pipe-dream, but there will be incremental decreases, and that is entirely a good thing.
I repeat: could be, could be. But from where I sit, 400 mill out of over 5 BILLION ain’t gonna hurt ‘em as much as I’d like to see ‘em hurt. Baby steps, I know, baby steps; gotta walk before you can run, all that. But still.
- Entries
It sure would make for some real entertainment though.
400 million is a big damn pile of money.
I believe this is just starters…
I’m sure you remember the old quip from some Senator or other back in the day: “A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you’re talking about real money.” 😉
Everett Dirksen (I had to look it up)
A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money.
This is probably the easiest and quickest way to make a case and/or avoid the “Hawaiian Judges”
It’s a big enough bite in one year to make them feel the bear trap right around their nethers.
It’s not a kill-shot, but it’s going to get their attention, especially when it happens again and again for four years.
Now it’s $2B they won’t be getting.
Now imagine Trump funneling it towards conservative colleges and universities.
Grant-fuinding is, indeed, a zero-sum game.
That’s gonna leave quite a mark.
Especially when it happens to the entire Ivy League.
cut out all education spending, there’s nothing in the Constitution about spending money on education
Put it in perspective –
400 million is the entire undergraduate class tuition at 45K per year…
400m / 45K = very close to the <9000 undergrad students.