Conservative Judges Won’t Hire Columbia Law Clerks Over Protests

A group of conservative federal judges say they won’t hire law clerks from Columbia University, saying they have “lost confidence” in the institution over its handling of student protests tied to the Israel-Hamas war.

The 11 judges — largely from Texas and all appointed by Donald Trump — said in a Monday letter to Columbia University President Minouche Shafik that they won’t hire law clerks who attended the institution as either undergraduates or law students, starting with next year’s entering class.

“Columbia has instead become an incubator of bigotry. As a result, Columbia has disqualified itself from educating the future leaders of our country,” reads the letter, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg Law. Spokespeople for Columbia didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.