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In March 2025, the Trump administration abruptly terminated $400 million in federal grants to Columbia University and threatened to revoke billions more if its demands were not met. To its shame, Columbia did not defend its independence, choosing instead to acquiesce to the government’s demands by adopting a restrictive speech code, surrendering control of an entire academic department, and relinquishing its right to make independent decisions about discipline and admissions. Plaintiffs American Association of University Professors and American Federation of Teachers—membership labor organizations comprised of faculty and other academic professionals, including at Columbia—filed suit challenging the government’s punishment and coercion as violative of the First Amendment, the Administrative Procedure Act, and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. FIREfiled an amicus brief arguing the government’s coercion was an abuse of federal power that violated both the First Amendment and Title VI and threatened the destruction of our universities if left unchecked.

The Southern District of New York dismissed the complaint on the ground that Plaintiffs lacked standing to assert their claims on behalf of their members or themselves. In the meantime, Columbia agreed to a settlement with the government which failed to restore all the terminated funding, enshrined the capitulations Columbia was coerced into making, and left hanging the specter of future punishment under continuing federal oversight—further perpetuating the chilling effect of the government’s unconstitutional coercion.

Plaintiffs appealed the dismissal of their complaint. FIREfiled another amicus brief, alerting the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to the government’s blatant violations of the First Amendment and Title VI while urging the appeals court to find Plaintiffs had standing and therefore reverse the district court’s dismissal of Plaintiffs’ complaint and remand the case for further proceedings.