Columbia University has announced that it will lay off 180 employees from federally subsidized projects that the Trump Administration cut a month ago. This is just the first chapter in a series that began upon the return of President Trump to the White House, who threatened the most prestigious universities in the United States with an iron fist after last year’s pro-Palestinian protests. Meanwhile, on Wednesday afternoon, a hundred protesters occupied the Lawrence A. Wein Reading Room in Butler Library for a few hours, with banners and chanting “Free Palestine,” before being forcibly driven out by campus security officers.
In early March, the Trump Administration had sent out a series of demands on disciplinary policies, following last year’s pro-Palestinian encampment that had occupied the campus for several weeks. Columbia’s Board of Trustees tried to negotiate by accepting much of the White House’s wishes to prevent the withdrawal of some 400 million in earmarked federal funds, but their efforts were in vain.
“In some cases,” reads the communication shared via email from Acting President Claire Shipman, ”schools and departments are reducing activities, but remain prepared to resume them if support is restored. The leadership continues to have discussions with the federal government about resumption.”
Shipman said more than 300 grants for multi-year medical research projects have been cancelled. The 180 employees will be able to apply for severance through the Research Stabilization Fund.
Last week, students, faculty and researchers had demonstrated for 25 uninterrupted hours to demand that the university oppose the administration’s wishes.
Meanwhile, after several hours of occupation at the Butler Library on Wednesday, NYPD officers arrested at least 20 protesters in the Butler library, leading them bound in zipties onto a bus outside. Their presence was requested by Shipman, according to a public statement from her on the school’s website: “requesting the presence of the NYPD is not the outcome we wanted, but it was absolutely necessary to secure the safety of our community.” Columbia faced widespread condemnation last year when Mayor Adams sent the NYPD to Hamilton Hall, another building on the school’s campus, to arrest students who had occupied the building in protest of the school’s continued investment in the state of Israel.
