Columbia lays off nearly 180 staffers after Trump pulled $400M over antisemitism concerns

NEW YORK — Columbia University says that it will be laying off nearly 180 staffers in response to US President Donald Trump’s decision to cancel $400 million in funding over the Manhattan college’s handling of student protests against Israel over the war with Hamas in Gaza.

Those receiving non-renewal or termination notices represent about 20% of the employees funded in some manner by the terminated federal grants, the university says in a statement Tuesday.

“We have had to make deliberate, considered decisions about the allocation of our financial resources,” the university says. “Those decisions also impact our greatest resource, our people. We understand this news will be hard.”

Officials are working with the Trump administration in the hopes of getting the funding restored, they say, but the university will still pull back spending because of uncertainty and strain on its budget.

Officials say the university will be scaling back research, with some departments winding down activities and others maintaining some level of research while pursuing alternate funding.