NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� When President Donald Trump to Columbia University over its handling of student protests against Israel's war in Gaza, much of the financial pain fell on researchers a train ride away from the school's campus, working on things like curing cancer and studying COVID-19's impact on children.
The urgency of salvaging ongoing research projects at the university's labs and world-renowned medical center was one factor in Columbia's decision last week to bow to the Republican administration鈥檚 for changes in university policy as a condition of getting funding restored.
The Ivy League university announced Friday that it would overhaul its student disciplinary process, ban protesters from wearing masks, bar demonstrations from academic buildings, adopt a new definition of antisemitism and put its Middle Eastern studies program under the supervision of a vice provost who would have a say over curriculum and hiring.
The university's decision to accede to nearly all of the Trump administration's demands outraged some faculty members, who say Columbia has sacrificed academic freedom. The American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers, representing members of Columbia鈥檚 faculty, Tuesday saying the funding revocation violated free speech laws.
Scientific and medical researchers are appalled that their work was drawn into the debate to begin with.
鈥淭here鈥檚 simply no justifiable link for the federal government to put this kind of research in the line of fire for the goal of mitigating antisemitism at a different location," Dr. Dani Dumitriu, a pediatric researcher studying , said from her office in midtown Manhattan.
Dr. Andrew Lassman, a brain cancer specialist and associate director of clinical trials at Columbia's cancer center, said researchers will have to make difficult decisions if the cuts stand.
Those choices could include prioritizing which experimental cancer treatments they will focus on and how many patients they can treat, he said, stressing that the current cuts have not resulted in the stoppage of any clinical trials where patients are currently enrolled.
鈥淭his is real, not theoretical research,鈥� said Lassman, who works at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, located about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) north of the university鈥檚 main campus. 鈥淵oung, old, Black white, Republican, Democrat 鈥� cancer doesn鈥檛 care.鈥�
U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the university was 鈥� 鈥� after it announced the changes Friday, but hasn't indicated yet whether funding might be restored.
Columbia's interim president, Katrina Armstrong, on Tuesday characterized the school's policy changes as 鈥� .鈥�
鈥淚mplementation of these measures is fundamental to sustaining our academic mission without disruption and ensuring the safety of Columbia鈥檚 students and campuses,鈥� she said in a statement, adding that she was committed to restoring the partnership between the university and the federal government.
On Columbia鈥檚 main campus, Benjamin Bostick, an environmental scientist whose research on rural water quality in Arizona, Oklahoma and the Dakotas was among those that lost funding, expressed dismay at the university鈥檚 decision to agree to the Trump administration's demands.
He said the school was put into a position where it couldn't do much to fight back. 鈥淏ut I really dislike that it effectively divides the institution and diverts attention from the fact that research activities are being suspended by external powers," Bostick said.
鈥淔rom my perspective, what the government is telling me is that they don鈥檛 care about people who have these issues or how to address them," he said, referring to the water quality research.
At Columbia's Teachers College, the cuts hit a program that trains graduate students to become teachers for the deaf and hard of hearing. Elaine Smolen, the program's co-director, said the Department of Education grant provided students with tuition support, living expenses and professional development.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no arguing with the extreme shortage and need for the kind of work that we do,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he longer deaf or hard of hearing children wait for services, the worse their outcomes are.鈥�
At Dumitriu's office, the funding cuts have forced her team to stop conducting and analyzing brain scans on participants in the study, which sought to track the long-term health of children whose mothers contracted COVID-19 while they were pregnant.
鈥淲e were learning so much, and we were hoping to continue to follow up with these babies all the way into their adulthood,鈥� she said.
Casandra Almonte, a New Jersey mom participating in the study with her son, said pulling funding 鈥渕akes no sense at all.鈥�
She said the extra testing and periodic check-ins with Dumitriu鈥檚 team gave her peace of mind that her son Oliver, now age 2, was developing properly.
鈥淚t鈥檚 completely unfair to pull funding from science because people are practicing free speech,鈥� Almonte said.
For now, Dumitriu says much of her team鈥檚 work can continue using other funding, as the National Institutes of Health grant suspended by the Trump administration represented roughly a quarter of its budget. She hopes to appeal the decision while her office seeks other grants.
鈥淲e are kind of living moment to moment,鈥� Dumitriu said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a really rough time to want to do good.鈥�
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Philip Marcelo, The Associated Press
