Columbia University, Cuny most 'hostile' campuses for Muslims: Cair
Columbia University, Cuny most 'hostile' campuses for Muslims: Cair Submitted by MEE staff on Fri, 02/13/2026 - 18:05 None of the 51 campuses investigated received an 'unhostile' rating, the organisation said Protesters gather outside Columbia University in New York City to protest against US funding of Israel's genocide in Gaza, on 23 May 2024 (Kena Betancur/AFP) Off The Council on American Islamic Relations (Cair) said this week that not a single one of the 51 US university campuses it investigated since 2024 is "unhostile" to Muslim students, as well as those protesting or speaking out in favour of the Palestinian cause. The 51 universities were chosen because civil rights concerns were raised about them, Cair said. The organisation's dedicated website, which monitors anti-Muslim acts, includes a section where members of the public can report hostile acts by academic institutions. Topping the list of the most "hostile" campuses were Columbia University and the City University of New York (Cuny), both located in New York City. They were followed by the University of Michigan, the University of Chicago, and Case Western Reserve University, in that order. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Only six campuses earned an "under watch" rating, Cair said. They were the University of Alabama; the University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Montclair State University; Colorado State University; the University of Central Florida; and California State University, Northridge. Twelve of the 51 universities had embraced the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of antisemitism, which conflates anti-Israeli criticism with antisemitism, Cair said. They are Harvard University; Yale University; Columbia University; City University of New York; Northwestern University; New York University; George Mason University; Case Western Reserve University; Ohio State University; Colorado State University; Pomona College; and Wayne State University. More than half of the colleges and universities investigated in the report did not specify Islamophobia and/or anti-Muslim bias in their discrimination policy at all, the report showed. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); And three-quarters of the universities that Cair examined had "reportedly called on police to arrest students, staff, and/or faculty members for protesting [against] the genocide in Gaza" after the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on 7 October 2023. Palestine protests In the spring of 2024, at the height of Israel's genocide in Gaza and the Biden administration's refusal to apply its unique leverage to stop the assault, hundreds of students mounted Vietnam-era style protests at Columbia University that later spread to campuses throughout the country. What really happened at college campuses according to Jewish students Read More » Gaza solidarity encampments were set up to force university administrators to divest from companies and institutions they deemed to be profiteering from Israel's war and occupation of Palestinians. While the support for the Palestinian cause was unprecedented, it also resulted in a violent crackdown by local police and SWAT teams, in addition to student suspensions, expulsions, and later, during Trump's tenure, visa revocations for partaking in protests. Reports of anti-Muslim sentiment skyrocketed. Cair defines Islamophobia as "a fear, hatred, or prejudice toward Islam and Muslims that results in a pattern of discrimination and oppression", and "creates a distorted understanding of Islam and Muslims by transforming the global and historical faith tradition of Islam, along with the rich history of cultural and ethnic diversity of its adherents, into a set of stereotyped characteristics most often reducible to themes of violence, civilizational subversion, and fundamental otherness". Islamophobia - broadly - can include "anti-Palestinian racism" which tends to be justified using "anti-Muslim rhetoric", Cair said. Harvard vendetta The crackdown on pro-Palestine sentiment on campuses largely stems from the controversial Project 2025, drawn up by the far-right Heritage Foundation think tank. The document is a policy blueprint designed for and mostly adopted by the Trump administration, though it denies mirroring the plan. Some Ivy League schools did come under intense pressure from the White House to implement changes. But those changes only involved stepped-up protections for Jewish students and pro-Israel content. In September, a federal judge ruled in favour of Harvard University in its lawsuit against the US Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services, saying that the suspension of nearly $3bn in federal funding for the institution has nothing to do with allegations of antisemitism by the government. Harvard wins lawsuit against Trump, restoring nearly $3bn in funding Read More » In her 84-page ruling, judge Allison Burroughs said the Trump administration did not engage in a review or weigh the value of any grant to demonstrate that it "would improve the situation for Jewish students at Harvard". "There is, in reality, little connection between the research affected by the grant terminations and antisemitism. In fact, a review of the administrative record makes it difficult to conclude anything other than that Defendants used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault on this country’s premier universities," she said. But the saga did not end there. In early February, the Trump administration said it was pursuing $1bn in damages from Harvard for its defiance in media statements as the administration tried to choke off its research grants and determine what its professors could teach. On Friday, the Department of Justice sued Harvard, accusing it of not providing documents to show whether it took race into consideration during its admissions process. Up until June 2023, it was standard practice to consider a student's race when they applied to university, because it helped provide opportunities to those from marginalised backgrounds whose ancestors may not have had access to higher education. The affirmative action policy was undone by a conservative majority in the US Supreme Court. US Muslims News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0