Trump Funding Cuts At Columbia Set Scary Precedent

Columbia University is once again at the spotlight of national news, and students are tired of it.

“It’s exhausting and stressful always having my school in the headlines,” says Theadora Leimone, my sister and a student attending Columbia and Barnard.

Over the past year, Columbia University has taken the spotlight for its protests over the Gaza conflict. Many Columbia students have set up encampments along their campus, using their First Amendment rights to speak out against the violence Israel has inflicted against Gazans.

With these protests taking place on campus, the safety of the school’s Jewish population has been questioned. Since many students felt unsafe due to these encampments, Columbia’s administration resorted to remote learning for the last month of the 2024 spring term.

On Apr. 3, 2025, the new Trump administration notified Columbia University that it will be cutting $400 million in federal grants to the school due to its alleged inability to ensure the safety of Jewish students on campus. This promise was made last month, and the Trump Administration along with other federal agencies followed through with it.

Federal officials are also now enforcing strict regulations, as Middle Eastern, Asian, and African studies departments have been placed under academic receivership. These actions have created a large controversy and an even bigger debate about the federal government’s encroachment on free speech and the right to protest.

Future Columbia students are also expressing discontent about the Trump Administration’s decision.

“I was pissed. There’s no way that I worked for four years just for this to happen,” stated Connor Von Der Ahe ‘25, who will be an incoming student at Columbia next year.

Additionally, the restrictions that the Trump administration has placed on Columbia have created concerns among many of the university’s students.

Leimone continued, “I feel that it could have a really direct impact on my education. I think that it could affect what professors can and cannot say in class, which is something that I have already dealt with.”

Trump’s directed actions have been alarming for several reasons, with one of the main reasons being that he is now exerting direct political influence over Columbia’s education. Trump is ultimately exploiting his position of power to directly infringe upon the university’s freedom of education, echoing the discomfort of other universities also affected by these federal grant cuts.

These actions have been further exacerbated by the University’s disappointing administrators, as Dr. Katrina Armstrong resigned from her position of interim president earlier in March, leaving many with a sense of uncertainty and worry about the future of Columbia.

Though, some are still optimistic about the university. Kelly Farland, former admissions officer and current counselor at Loyola, expressed his professional views on the situation.

Farland said, “Trump is a short term issue and attending Columbia is a lifelong experience. Columbia will absolutely provide an excellent education.”

The concerning actions that Trump has taken on Columbia and other institutions raise the question: “What’s in store for our education system in the coming years?”