Professors sue Trump administration over Columbia University overhaul

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US university professors and teachers are suing Donald Trump’s administration over its efforts to overhaul governance at Columbia University with threats to withdraw federal funding from the Ivy League institution.

The American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers launched a lawsuit against officials and the departments of justice, education, health and human services, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the General Services Administration after $400mn in funding to Columbia was cut earlier this month.

The legal challenge follows Columbia’s decision last week to cede to many of the government’s demands to overhaul faculty governance and student discipline, which triggered protests and widespread concern over threats to academic freedom and freedom of speech across US educational institutions.

Todd Wolfson, president of the AAUP, said: “The Trump administration’s threats and coercion at Columbia are part of a clear authoritarian playbook meant to crush academic freedom and critical research in American higher education.”

The lawsuit alleges that without due process, “the Trump administration is coercing Columbia University to do its bidding and regulate speech and expression on campus by holding hostage billions of dollars in congressionally authorised federal funding — funding that is responsible for positioning the American university system as a global leader in scientific, medical and technological research and is crucial to ensuring it remains so”.

The litigation comes after other legal challenges in recent weeks to the administration’s cancellation of federal grants to universities linked to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and its slashing of the indirect costs funded by the NIH on medical research to 15 per cent, in a move that is estimated to reduce support by $4bn across the country.

The government accused Columbia earlier this month of failing to prevent antisemitism on campus and warned future federal funding would be jeopardised unless it quickly implemented rapid reforms.

Similar to other universities, faculty members have criticised Columbia’s leadership for refusing to speak out or criticise the administration’s actions, in what has been seen by some as a tactic to avoid further targeting. It also attempted to discourage the filing of the AAUP lawsuit.

However, Columbia’s concessions failed to get the government to reverse its $400mn cut.

In a letter on Monday, Josh Gruenbaum, a member of the administration’s newly appointed task force to combat antisemitism, said: “Columbia’s early steps are a positive sign, but they must continue to show that they are serious in their resolve to end antisemitism and protect all students and faculty on their campus.”

He also warned “other universities that are being investigated by the task force should expect the same level of scrutiny and swiftness of action if they don’t act to protect their students and stop antisemitic behaviour on campus”.

The Department of Justice is pursuing 10 universities for alleged failures to curb antisemitism on campuses, while 60 are being investigated by the Office for Civil Rights of the education department.

In a sign of potential further escalation, the University of Pennsylvania said it had been made aware of the administration’s efforts to withdraw $175mn of funding linked to failure to prevent transgender students’ participation in women’s sports, although it has yet to receive formal notification.

Columbia University declined to comment.