Alexander Hamilton did not found Columbia. He dropped out of its predecessor. But by all means, lets make this person the leading Congressional voice on higher education.
Syntactically, she didn't say that Hamilton founded Columbia. She said that Hamilton founded a strain of academic excellence of which Columbia had previously been a beacon.
(Yes, I know that's not what she meant, but since schools can't be "previously founded", that's what she wrote.)
Not to give her too much credit because "founder" is still wrong, but Hamilton was heavily involved when it was remade from King's into Columbia after the Revolution, getting the relevant legislation passed, rewriting their charter, and variously serving as regent and trustee.
