NEW YORK (AP) – Columbia University said Tuesday it will fire nearly 180 staff in response to President Donald Trump’s decision Cancelling $400 million in funds Manhattan University students handled protests against the war in Gaza.
Those who received a non-renewal or fired notice on Tuesday represent about 20% of employees who were fired, funded in any way by the university He said in a statement Tuesday.
“We had to consider intentional decisions regarding the allocation of financial resources,” the university said. “These decisions will also affect our people, our biggest resource. We understand that this news is difficult.”
University spokesman Jessica Murphy refused to say whether more layoffs are expected, but said Columbia is taking range of steps to create financial flexibility, including maintaining current pay levels and providing voluntary retirement incentives.
Research has also been reduced, with some departments abolishing research and others maintaining some level of research while pursuing alternative funds.
The work has impacted the range from projects developing antiviral nasal sprays for infectious diseases to various scientific studies on maternal mortality and morbidity, treatment of chronic diseases such as long covid, care for newborns with opioid withdrawal syndrome, and, according to the university, screening for rectal cancer.
Although layoffs were expected, it was “speaking their opinions” for teachers, Marcel Agueros, the branch of the Columbia Secretary of the American Association of University Professors, said he had filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration, claiming that the cuts were illegal.
University officials say they are working with the Trump administration in hopes of regaining funds. But Agueros, a professor of astronomy, said it would take years to cancel the damages already inflicted.
“If there is a funding interruption, research stops progress because people need to leave, they can’t hire new people, they need to put on hold some initiatives, and others need to stop,” he said.
In March, the Trump administration drew money on what Ivy League schools described as not restraining anti-Semitism on campus. Israel-Hamas War It began in October 2023.
Within a few weeks, Colombia surrendered to a series of requests laid out as a starting point for Republican administrations to restore funds.
Among the requirements were to overhaul the university’s student disciplinary process, prohibiting protesters on campus from wearing masks, adopting a new definition of anti-Semitism, and place a Middle Eastern research program under the supervision of a secondary occupation that speaks about curriculum and employment.
After Columbia announced the changes, US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said the university had ” On the right track”, but refused to say when Colombian funds will recover or when they will be restored.
Columbia was at the forefront of US campus protests over the war last spring. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators have been set up Camp The campus building was seized in April, arresting and inspiring dozens of people. Similar waves of protest Nationwide.
When Trump seized the White House in January, he moved quickly to cut federal money to universities that he saw as too lenient with anti-Semitism.
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