The daughter of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz says she is skipping graduate school in protest against the university’s lack of support for student demonstrations.
Hope Walz made the announcement to her followers on TikTok on Sunday, saying she was disappointed with how the institution she had planned to attend dealt with student protests.
“I applied for one school. I kind of had my heart set on it. I am not going to name the institution, but given recent events I am not going to give my money, go into debt for, or support institutions that do not support students and the right to protest and speak out for their communities,” Hope said.
“Students deserve to be protected. I am not worried about if I were to be protected or not at said institution. I am, you know, a privileged white woman. But I am not going to put myself in the position where I am giving money or supporting institutions that don’t support their students,” she added.
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Her announcement comes as universities across the country grapple with how to respond to often-violent anti-Israel protests and the spread of antisemitism on their campuses.
President Donald Trump’s administration has taken an aggressive stance with Columbia University in particular, threatening to withhold federal funding if the institution did not make reforms to combat antisemitism and rampant campus protests.
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Columbia agreed to demands from the administration to ban masks for the purpose of concealing identity on campus as well as appoint a senior vice provost to oversee the school’s Department of the Middle East, South Asian and African Studies, as well as the Center for Palestine Studies.
After much violence on campus, Columbia must also hire 36 new campus police officers with the ability to arrest students.
Columbia was at the heart of 2024’s anti-Israel campus protests, with NYPD officers ultimately breaking up a barricade at Hamilton Hall in a highly publicized raid.
Fox News’ Jasmine Baehr and Alexis McAdams contributed to this report.
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