Columbia terminates 180 employees after Trump admin pulls $400M due to anti-Semitism failures
Columbia University has announced that nearly 180 research staff will be laid off due to the termination of several federally-funded grants.
The announcement was made on May 6 by Columbia’s acting president, Claire Shipman, and three other university officials.
Columbia University has announced that nearly 180 research staff will be laid off due to the termination of several federally-funded grants.
The announcement was made on May 6 by Columbia’s acting president, Claire Shipman, and three other university officials.
The layoffs follow months of financial strain caused by the loss of federal funding, according to the administration’s announcement. Columbia had temporarily continued to pay these employees while working to restore relationships with federal agencies and seeking alternate funding.
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“Across the research portfolio we have had to make difficult choices and unfortunately, today, nearly 180 of our colleagues who have been working, in whole or in part, on impacted federal grants, will receive notices of non-renewal or termination,” the officials wrote. “This represents about 20% of the individuals who are funded in some manner by the terminated grants.”
“In the coming weeks and months, we will need to continue to take actions that preserve our financial flexibility and allow us to invest in areas that drive us forward,” the officials added. “This is a deeply challenging time across all higher education, and we are attempting to navigate through tremendous ambiguity with precision, which will be imperfect at times.”
In March, the Trump administration terminated $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia, citing the school’s “inaction” during “persistent harassment of Jewish students.”
“Freezing the funds is one of the tools we are using to respond to this spike in anti-Semitism,” Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Leo Terrell stated at the time. “This is only the beginning.”
In April, the National Institutes of Health froze all of its grants to Columbia, totalling more than $250 million.
Since March, there have been multiple new reports of anti-Semitism at Columbia. For instance, in late April, anti-Israel student activists organized an encampment at the school’s Morningside Heights campus before the administration had to preemptively preclude them from erecting it.
In late March, anti-Israel student demonstrators created and distributed a guide to vandalism at Columbia, including by advocating that protesters spray-paint messages such as “Free Palestine.”
Despite such incidents, former Columbia Interim President Katrina Armstrong contended in early April that she did not have a “specific memory” of Columbia students calling for the destruction of Israel.
Campus Reform has contacted Columbia University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.