In New York City, Columbia University medical staff protests cuts in health care

Members of the Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) in New York City held a solidarity gathering on March 27 to protest proposed cuts of grants to universities and colleges in the area of health care by the Trump administration. The main demands were: “Protect our patients! Protect our research! Protect our teaching! Protect our students!”

Columbia University speakout against federal cuts, New York City, March 24, 2025. (WW PHOTO: Richard Kossally)

The motivation for this protest reads in part: “Several CUIMC researchers will share their stories about their terminated grants, and we hope to build a community who want to raise our voices against the assaults on higher education and especially on health research from the federal government.” 

The gathering helped to bring attention to the joint lawsuit that the American Association of University Professors and American Federation of Teachers have brought against the U.S. Department of Justice against these cuts. The opening statement of the lawsuit states, “This action challenges the Trump administration’s unlawful and unprecedented effort to overpower a university’s academic autonomy and control the thought, association, scholarship and expression of its faculty and students. 

“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 authorized 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 lawsuit also condemns the $400 million federal aid cuts to Columbia University, claiming that the administration did not go far enough to repress pro-Palestine student activism under the false pretenses of “antisemitism.” tinyurl.com/3svns38b.

The Columbia University Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (CU-AAUP) released an “Assault on Columbia University” statement calling on the campus and community to unite against the cuts. To read and sign the letter, go to: tinyurl.com/3edhxw74.