Students and faculty demand Columbia University stand up to federal government

Columbia University students, faculty, staff and alumni launched a "speak out" Monday to criticize school leaders for bowing to the Trump administration's demands.

Columbia University students, faculty, staff and alumni launched a "speak out" Monday to criticize school leaders for bowing to the Trump administration's demands after it pulled $400 million in federal funding from the campus.

Hundreds of students, faculty, staff and alumni were taking part in the 25-hour event that organizers said was intended to amplify a growing position within the Columbia community that the school administration had caved-in to Washington and that the school's academic freedom was under attack.

The administration has paused billions of dollars in federal grants and research funding at universities nationwide to target what it describes as a failure to deal with antisemitism and its handling of protests against Israel’s military action in the Gaza Strip.

“All of us have dedicated our lives to both a continual process of learning but also educating," Brooke West, a professor of social work at Columbia said, as dozens of students walked by. "But how can we do that when our students, when our institutions and academic freedom and free speech are under attack?"

David Guirgis, who will graduate next month with a master's degree in social work, said he's ashamed his school didn’t stand up to the administration.