Team Trump’s Efforts to Combat Campus Hate: A Stand for Decency and a Challenge to Distorted Privilege

The recent arrest and impending deportation of Mahmoud Khalil, a noncitizen leader of antisemitic demonstrations at Columbia and Barnard, signals that ICE is enhancing President Donald Trump’s efforts to combat campus hate. This is a positive development!

This action follows the recent cancellation of approximately $400 million in federal funding and contracts with Columbia due to its noncompliance with anti-discrimination laws, at a time when Trump’s Education Department is examining four additional universities for similar violations.

Despite completing his graduate studies in December, Khalil remained at the institution, seemingly intent on perpetuating disruptions that included building takeovers at Barnard earlier this month.

This movement has never been solely about protest: In the aftermath of Hamas’ terror attacks on October 7, 2023, it has aimed to intimidate the United States through aggressive actions — occupying campus areas, blockading libraries, and harassing or assaulting visibly Jewish individuals.

It’s important to note that this is not just a student movement: As arrest records reveal, many participants in on-campus actions are older, experienced radicals who often instigate the most extreme behavior.

Unfortunately, many campus authorities have taken minimal action to combat this, concealing behind “free speech” arguments that clearly do not justify such conduct.

Let’s be clear: Even protests that do qualify as free speech carry an obviously hateful agenda — why else focus solely on Israel?

In Syria, militias linked to the new government recently massacred over 1,000 civilians, yet there was no outcry on any US campus, just as the previous decade’s Syrian government atrocities drew little to no protest.

For reasons unknown, a significant portion of the global left appears to embrace or exploit antisemitism, while the confused progressive leadership within US higher education has hesitated (or worse) in addressing this troubling alliance.

Now the Trump administration is beginning to hold academia accountable for its shortcomings and is taking action against those like Mahmoud Khalil who misuse America’s openness to promote violent hatred.

This represents both a defense of decency and a challenge to the misuse of privilege, and we look forward to seeing more of it.