Trump’s Columbia Funding Halt Draws Academic Union Lawsuit (2)

Two educational unions sued the Trump administration over its withholding of $400 million in federal funding from Columbia University, calling the move an illegal attempt to limit academic independence and free speech on campus.

The lawsuit by the American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers, filed Tuesday in New York, comes as Columbia itself has been negotiating a deal with the government to restore funding. The Ivy League university has agreed to expand campus police powers and ban masked protests, among other measures.

Columbia’s concessions to the administration shows the government’s “immense financial leverage and ...