Columbia University faculty protest new policies
Days before students returned, Columbia University gave into the Trump administration’s demands and announced new disciplinary processes.
Unions representing Columbia University professors, faculty and staff have sued the Trump administration for cutting $400 million in university funding, arguing the White House has violated the First Amendment while halting critical public health research.
President Donald Trump and other administration officials targeted Columbia, in New York City, because students there last spring and summer occupied buildings and common areas to protest Israel’s retaliatory attacks on Gaza. The protests quickly spread nationally, and Trump officials have also been targeting student leaders.
The administration has also pushed the university to adopt new policies to protect Jewish students from antisemitism, including harsher penalties for student protesters. University officials acceded to those demands, which also include a review of admission policies and a ban on students wearing masks at protests.
In the newly filed lawsuit, American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers say the Trump cuts set a dangerous precedent. The suit argues the Trump cuts also violate Congress’ power of the purse.
“…This move represents a stunning new tactic: using cuts as a cudgel to coerce a private institution to adopt restrictive speech codes and allow government control over teaching and learning,” the unions said in their lawsuit.
University officials have agreed to many of the demands the Trump administration set out in a March 13 letter. Jameel Jaffer, director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, said on social media that he interprets the letter as saying: “We’ll destroy Columbia unless you destroy it first.”
Many universities are facing significant budget cuts as the Trump administration unilaterally tries to cancel spending and contracts, although federal judges have halted some of those efforts.
Trump has also targeted former Columbia University protest leader Mahmoud Khalil for deportation after detaining him and revoking his green card. White House officials say Khalil is aligned with Hamas, a designated terrorist organization. Khalil, 30, who is being held in a Louisiana detention facility, says he is being unfairly targeted as the administration seeks to suppress dissent.
The AFT has also sued Trump over his efforts to dismantle the Department of Education. Trump and AFT President Randi Weingarten have long clashed over the rule of unions in the education system, dating back to Trump’s first presidency, when the two fought over return-to-class plans during the COVID-19 pandemic.