Earlier this evening, the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights announced a formal finding that Columbia University has violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

In plain terms, this means a federal agency has concluded that Columbia failed to meet its legal obligation to prevent discrimination as a condition of receiving public funds—specifically by “showing deliberate indifference to the hostile environment faced by its Jewish students.” You can read our explainer of Title VI here.

The press release references a Notice of Violation outlining “extensive factual findings” over a 19-month period in which the University allegedly failed to protect Jewish students. As of this writing, the Notice itself has not been made public. But the gravity is clear.

What Happens Next

We don’t yet know. But we can look to history, as we’ve seen this before. On November 3, 1971, Columbia received a similar civil rights finding from HHS’s predecessor, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. That letter recommended the termination of all existing federal contracts with Columbia and the debarment of the University from all future federal funding in a coordinated action across every federal agency.

Then-president William McGill responded with clarity, resolve, humility, and urgency. In his letter to the University community, he wrote:

“We are no longer in all respects an independent private university. Our access to federal and state resources depends on our ability to provide a level of accountability heretofore not practiced or even envisioned at Columbia University… We simply must be prepared… to subject ourselves to an external scrutiny that makes us all occasionally uncomfortable. I see no other way.”

He launched a whole-of-institution effort to comply. Within months, Columbia had produced a plan that satisfied federal authorities and restored its funding.

Now, HHS appears to be inviting a similar course. In tonight’s statement, Anthony Archeval, Acting Director of the Office for Civil Rights, urged Columbia “to work with us to come to an agreement that reflects meaningful changes that will truly protect Jewish students.”

The Stakes are Institutional and Civilizational

Columbia’s exposure is vast. As we have previously noted, more than $2 billion in federal funding is at risk across research grants, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, and student aid. If secondary effects (such as international student enrollment, as what happened to Harvard today) are considered, the figure could rise to $3 billion.

We are unequivocally and unapologetically for academic freedom, free expression, and institutional autonomy. But we are also for the continued partnership between the United States government and its leading universities—a partnership forged in the crucible of World War II and refined over decades. That collaboration has powered America’s scientific leadership, economic dynamism, and global influence.

To destroy it now would not only diminish Columbia. It would weaken a cornerstone of American prosperity, security, and yes, greatness. Let us be blunt: unraveling the government-academia compact would be a gift to Putin and Xi.

Last week, we reflected on Dr. Samuel Johnson, King’s College’s founding president. But tonight, another Dr. Samuel Johnson, the English essayist and wit, comes to mind. He once, upon trying to secure a pardon for a condemned man, remarked,  “Depend upon it Sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.”

Let us concentrate ours.