March 16, 2025

Dear President Armstrong and Trustees of Columbia University,

It is settled American law that the university has four essential freedoms: the freedom to determine who may teach, what may be taught, how it should be taught, and who may be admitted to study. These freedoms give faculty and students the ability to carry out the university’s essential mission: to follow the truth wherever it may lead, and to correct errors not with force or censorship but on the basis of reason, evidence, and argument alone. 

A university faithful to this mission must by definition include the freedom to dissent, for following the truth wherever it may lead may sometimes lead to stinging criticisms. “By design and by effect,” as the University of Chicago’s 1967 Kalven Report observed, the university is “the institution which creates discontent with the existing social arrangements and proposes new ones. In brief, a good university, like Socrates, will be upsetting.”

We, the undersigned, regard Columbia University to be a good university in exactly this sense. We were therefore disturbed by the Trump Administration’s punitive March 7 decision to deprive Columbia of $400 million in federal grants, which has gutted legally negotiated contracts without due process and prevents Columbia professors and students from engaging in politically neutral and scientifically beneficial areas of research.

We are even more disturbed by the Trump Administration’s March 13 letter to you. 

The measures outlined in this letter, if implemented, would strip Columbia of all four of the university’s essential freedoms. The letter proposes that Washington bureaucrats—not Columbia itself—should determine who may teach, what may be taught, how it should be taught, and who may be admitted to study. It undermines “an institution based on the illimitable freedom of the human mind” by imposing a limitation of the human mind based on fear, force, and censorship. Instead of being free to follow the truth wherever it may lead, our colleagues at Columbia now no longer will be free to correct errors based on reason, evidence, and argument alone. Columbia professors and students now would have to steer clear of some truths and some errors or else face punishment. Academic freedom is the oxygen of the university; the March 13 letter would deprive Columbia of academic freedom. Distilled to its essence, the letter thus stands for the claim that an upsetting university, like Socrates, should be executed. 

These ideas may be at home in Hungary; they are foreign to America’s history and traditions. Our Constitution is designed to restrain those who wish “to sacrifice the weaker party or an obnoxious individual.” Our federal laws, which abide by general principles of due process, prevent the federal government from arbitrarily and summarily suspending your federal funding. Our First Amendment, which protects academic freedom and bars viewpoint discrimination, also bars the federal government from “jawboning.” This means that the Trump Administration cannot, in fact, threaten you with a loss of federal funding in order to coerce you to impose sanctions on speech and association that the Trump Administration by itself cannot impose. 

In all of these ways and more, the March 13 letter is not a legitimate expression of federal authority; it’s a stain on our ordered liberties. 

We respect and appreciate that you’re bound by a fiduciary obligation to make good faith decisions in the best interest of your institution. We imagine that this obligation must weigh heavily on you right now, particularly because it can’t be reduced to simply overseeing financial assets, but extends to include the highest principles of your academic mission. As you consider what response to give to the Trump Administration’s letter, we ask you to take into account the fact that the Trump Administration’s attempt to destroy academic freedom at Columbia is an attempt to establish a precedent that can be applied to American higher education in general. Its attack on your highest principles is equally an attack on the high principles of every institution of higher learning in America. As Columbia’s own John Dewey once put it, “whatever wounds the body of truth in one of its members attacks the whole organism.” 

Because we are implicated in this attack, we stand in solidarity with Columbia professors and students. For this same reason, we feel an obligation to say to you that now is not the time to negotiate. We believe that now is the time to fight this overreaching letter in court. We respectfully ask that you do so on behalf of all who cherish the university and its freedoms. 

Sincerely,

1. Adam Sitze

2. Bonnie Honig
3. Joan Scott
4. Jennifer Ruth
5. Henry Reichman
6. Amrita Basu
7. Michael Bérubé
8. Lisa Hajjar
9. Michael Kunichika
10. Ellen Schrecker
11. Arien Mack
12. Premesh Lalu

13. Anne Norton
14. Timothy Campbell
15. John Wallach
16. Amy Offner

17. Jane Bennett
18. Noëlle McAfee

19. Timothy Kaufman-Osborn
20. Felice Cimatti
21. Jennifer Culbert
22. Evan Riley

23. Deva Woodly

24. Andrew Carr

25. Neville Morley

26. Erik Peinert

27. Minkah Makalani

28. Judith Friedlander
 
 

29. Richard Kaye

30. Abbie LeBlanc

31. Ludmilla Meltser

32. Amanda Senior

33. Michaela Brangan

34. Ahmed Bawa

35. Eva Vislisel
 

36. Laura Burch

37. James Itschner

38. Mareike Herrmann

39. Ashwin Ravikumar

40. Brenda Choi

41. Ron Lembo

42. Andres Henao Castro

43. Michael Meranze

44. Dominick Knowles

45. Heather Fitz Gibbon

46. Rana Jaleel

47. Bill Mullen

48. Nataliya Kostenko

49. Ericka Kimball

50. Hibah Osman

51. Kristin Weaver

52. Amanda Peterson

53. Karim Mattar

54. Elizabeth Dale

55. Tyler B

56. Jack Jackson

57. Amanda Minervini

58. Marcos Giordana

59. Karen Koehler

60. Joseph Chadraoui

61. Elzbieta Matynia

62. Neil Kusleika

63. Gaurav Majumdar

64. Özge Serin

65. Jane Richardson

66. Kavita Khory

67. Manal Assi

68. Bassem Krayem

69. Gregiry Dalack

70. Matt Reynolds

71. Xavier O’Mack

72. Shampa Biswas

73. Nicole Simek

74. Eunice Blavascunas

75. Bethany Marty

76. Katlynn Hahn

77. Karl Esslinger

78. Ian Walling

79. Arielle Cooley

80. Monica Ringer

81. Kathleen Gibbons

82. Robert Flahive

83. Hana El Sahly

84. Josh Dubnau

85. Chiara Manzini

86. Juliana Paré-Blagoev

87. Tim Dubnau

88. Sandra Kim

89. Ravi Palat

90. David Dubnau

91. Anne O'Byrne

92. Deborah Little

93. Nahla Hamdan

94. Daniel Weymouth

95. Peter Carravetta

96. Rebecca Karl

97. Gino Elia

98. Pavel Blagov

99. Mikey Sanchez

100. Dylan Riley

101. Z Valdez

102. Jane Murphy

103. Andrew Floyd

104. Tani Barlow

105. Scott Bingham

106. Tulsi Patel

107. Joris van Laarhoven
108. Jeanie Dubnau
109. Jennifer Weller
110. Judi Gardner
111. Allegra De Laurentiis
112. Nicolas Langlitz
113. Deedee Baba
114. Beth Muellner
115. Monica Florence
116. Jessica Reyes
117. Jonathan Walters
118. M Acuff
119. Bridgette Davis
120. Ellen Goldin, New College alum
121. Anne-Ruxandra Carvunis
122. Lydia McDermott
123. James Faeder
124. Jenny Dubnau
125. Jeffrey Edwards
126. Pooja Rangan
127. Zachary Lockman
128. Wendy Coulter
129. Christopher Dole
130. Donna Hanlon
131. Zach Rewinski
132. Grant Balfour
133. Dana Miranda
134. Tara Mastrelli
135. Alicia Christoff
136. Philip Lumsden
137. Julie Corbett-Leon
138. Clare Whitney
139. Yarran Hominh
140. Ginger Withers
141. Cesare Casarino
142. Ajay Skaria
143. Herman Saatkamp
144. Michael Gallope
145. Nicola Courtright
146. Timothy Brennan
147. Melvin Rogers
148. Vinay Gidwani
149. Karla Villa
150. Bruce Braun
151. Keramet Reiter
152. Alana Preziosi
153. Andrea Sempertegui
154. Mark Sanders
155. Gopalan Nadathur
156. Joel Wainwright
157. Joshua Barkan
158. William P Jones
159. Alyssa Beckham
160. Eric Sheppard
161. Yael Rice
162. Maggie Hennefeld
163. Michael Watts
164. Pranav Jani
165. Christopher Santiago
166. Taylor Carman
167. Elæ Moss Benedetto
168. Nathaniel Mills
169. Ezekiel Dixon-Román
170. Cindi Katz
171. Ajantha Subramanian
172. Glenn Petersen
173. Michael Thaddeus
174. Christia Mercer
175. JP Jones
176. Bruce Magnusson
177. Kirsten Nicolaysen
178. Sharon Kaufman-Osborn
179. Patrick Henry
180. Helga Leitner
181. Graeme Blair
182. Ananya Roy
183. Anna Markowitz
184. Maylei Blackwell
185. Christopher Kutz
186. Anne-Lise Francois
187. Grace Lavery
188. Dr. Hatem Bazian
189. Leti Volpp
190. Debarati Sanyal
191. David Henkin
192. Mark Goble
193. Tracee Anderson
194. Celeste Langan
195. Alia Bakr
196. Gillian Hart
197. Michael Lucey
198. Colleen Lye
199. Barbara Barnes
200. Déborah Blocker
201. Jill Stoner
202. Zeynep Korkman
203. John Cummins
204. Leslie Salzinger
205. Susan Slyomovics
206. Daniela Kayser
207. Robert Kaufman
208. David Schneider
209. James Schamus
210. Edmund Lowson
211. John Mowitt
212. Beth Berkowitz
213. Emily Rohrbach
214. Robert Friedman
215. Andrew Ross
216. Jean Lave
217. Cecilia Åsberg
218. Sean Conway
219. Emily Conroy-Krutz
220. Jeffrey Skoller
221. Hinnd Naser
222. Andreas Wittel
223. Ian Ampleford
224. Gerald Sider
225. Deborah Saliby
226. Sonya Posmentier
227. Michael Harris
228. Jeffrey Conroy-Krutz
229. Hannah Appel
230. Klara Moricz
231. Eric Kaplan
232. Yannik Thiem
233. Talal Asad
234. Jennifer Pruitt
235. Daniel Mozes
236. Suren Pillay
237. Miriam Ticktin
238. Victoria Frye
239. Thao Lam
240. George Dutton
241. Melanie Brewster
242. Sherene Razack
243. Esra Akcan
244. Josefina Saldaña-Portillo
245. Heidi Grunebaum
246. Cesar Ayala
247. Phil Worman
248. Ian Duncan
249. Kim Hall
250. Nancy Mithlo
251. Paul Gootenberg
252. Henrik Lagerlund
253. Shamik Dasgupta
254. Martin Harries
255. Evan Litwack
256. Yousuf Al-Bulushi
257. Shannon Steen
258. Cori Hayden
259. Lori Flores
260. Ivan Ascher
261. Elizabeth Shuman
262. Yoav Di-Capua
263. Kathleen Ryan
264. Beth Ribet
265. Clare Carson
266. Jim Hicks
267. Amy Rosenfeld
268. Jonathan Simon
269. Lutfur Bhuiya
270. Emily Yeh
271. Elizabeth Bernstein
272. John Rice
273. Brianna Willey
274. Frederick Neuhouser
275. Ben Brower
276. Timothy Weston
277. Paola Bacchetta
278. John Winter
279. Caitlin Carter
280. Anna Sardar
281. Leigh Gilmore
282. David Harding
283. Stacey Young
284. Brittany Houston
285. John Albin
286. Marcia Aldrich
287. Adam Levine
288. Max Osborn
289. Geoff Mann
290. Chris Tilly
291. Katherine Marino
292. Nico Baumbach
293. Deb Cowen
294. Elizabeth Segal
295. Riana Elyse Anderson
296. Bob Carson
297. Rick Kern
298. Adrienne Pine
299. Katherine Sherwood
300. Carol Goodwin
301. Kathy Ketcham
302. Becky Hsu
303. Jill Locke
304. R. Jay Wallace
305. Nick Kawa
306. Joe Bryan
307. Brooke and Bob Best
308. Angeliki Sifaki
309. Chris Chism
310. Erika Blumberg, M​.​A. 1996
311. Katharine VanDonge
312. François Lecercle
313. Daniel Boyarin
314. Douglas Carlsen
315. Andrew Apter
316. Adam Ewing
317. Hannah Weisz
318. Marietta Ethier, Esq.
319. Jody Washburn
320. Catherine Brennan
321. Meira Gold
322. Hannah Ginsborg
323. Philip Yanos
324. Ann Smock
325. Kristin McCracken
326. Paula Hajar
327. Anjali Arondekar
328. Eric Lott
329. Filipa Calado
330. James Zetzel
331. Melinda Greenblatt
332. Mara Goldman
333. Matthew Turner
334. Katharina Volk
335. Alison Jaggar
336. Susan Sugarman
337. Andy Thompson
338. Aneil Rallin
339. Ishaq Aslam
340. Jack Kollmann, Jr.
341. Nicole Pinsky
342. Nathaniel Shrage
343. Sophia McClennen
344. David Lurie
345. Danette Lipten
346. Gergana Atanassova
347. Sue Schwartzberg
348. David Lipten
349. Deborah Palmer
350. Marcella Calabi
351. Ani Dutta
352. Nancy Kollmann
353. Wendy Pologe
354. Joseph Bottari
355. Vivodh Anand
356. Margaret Robison
357. Sé Sullivan
358. Iyobosa Bello-Asemota
359. Kristin Mercer
360. Susanne Gahl
361. Linda Metnetsky
362. Robert Goldman
363. Alfredo Dominguez
364. Yesi Dominguez
365. Chris Courtheyn
366. Jesse Ribot
367. V Lowery
368. Diane Galen
369. Marc Redfield
370. Louise Lennihan
371. Samantha Caveny
372. Kenneth Worthy
373. Mileidis Gort
374. Lisa Dabney
375. Sallie Marston
376. Natalie Avalos
377. Heather Perry
378. Zahi Zalloua
379. Noelle Creegan
380. Andrew Floyd
381. Christi Nguyen
382. Mimi Engel
383. Astrid Sambolin
384. Francisco Torres
385. Lily Ball
386. Nora Gaines
387. Adam Miyashiro
388. Stephanie Pincetl
389. Jared S
390. David Wills
391. Suzanne Akbari
392. Timothy Jeske
393. Paul McGinness
394. Kian Goh
395. Beth Mitchneck
396. Douglas Kaufman
397. Penelope Cordes
398. Joan Wright
399. Steven Dickison
400. Celia Cole
401. Ellen Simms
402. Sauna Trenkle
403. Sue Ruskin
404. José Diaz
405. Marleen Ramsey
406. Student Coalition for SJSU Accountabilty
407. Bill Dietz
408. William M. Burton
409. Rachel Lee
410. Susan Sylvester
411. Heidi Nicholls
412. Patricia Smith
413. Samirah Alkassim
414. Eric Mar
415. Roberta Cation
416. Elizabeth Koslov
417. Mark Levine
418. Dinos Avlonitis
419. Laura Nelson
420. Theresa Johnson
421. B Story Swett
422. Caleb Miles
423. Justin Whitaker
424. Sharon Silber
425. Susan Morrissey
426. Georgios Anagnostou
427. Geoffrey Herrera
428. Hande G
429. Sally Steffen
430. Danielle Purifoy
431. Ralphie Beam
432. Estelle Tarica
433. Christopher Baswell
434. Sharad Chari
435. Γιώργος Θαλάσσης
436. David Fenton
437. Mojtaba Sohi
438. Rajan Kurai Krishnan
439. Ritu Primlani
440. Simone Herrera
441. Lori Salganicoff
442. Summer Brenner
443. Linda Cuddy
444. Marni Rolston
445. Michael Weber
446. Connie Field
447. Ruth Morgan
448. Nettie Legters
449. Susan Banyas
450. Virginia Brown
451. Helen Miller
452. Eleanor White
453. David Hardwick
454. Bruce Bean
455. Daniel Katz
456. Konstantina Bada
457. Carrie Chaney
458. Lia Panourgia 
459. Rei Terada
460. Brian Locke 
461. Amy Ritterbusch
462. Geoffrey Young
463. Neelima Anwara
464. Kay James
465. Stella Kritikou
466. Dr​.​Natasha Remoundou
467. Vincent Katz
468. Anastasia Mpalafouti
469. Arvaniti Panayiota
470. Vivien Katz
471. Kostas Gasparinatos
472. Susan Witte
473. David Schein
474. Nektaria Chira
475. Karen Butt
476. Panayote Dimitras
477. Kiara Vigil
478. Donna Reagan
479. Anna Botta
480. Nafsika Papanikolatou
481. Marion Riedel
482. Mehr Khan Williams
483. Michael Storms
484. Eva Lyon
485. Rama Mantena
486. Andromache Karanika
487. Kerry Ratigan
488. Jeffers Engelhardt
489. Julia McQuade
490. Carla Forester
491. Scott Zeger
492. Rachel Wolfe
493. Lorraine Bayard de Volo
494. Max Zeger
495. Thomas Flores
496. Colin Dayan
497. Andy Rotman
498. Susan Seizer
499. Pamela Glaven
500. Shirin Khanmohamadi
501. John Regis
502. Jacqueline Jung
503. Mitchell Goldman
504. Darrell Moore
505. Nina Wurtzel
506. Joanne Katz
507. Michael O'Hare
508. Rachel Dressler
509. Teresa Gruber
510. Sholeh Asgary
511. Jennifer Uleman
512. Charles Haxthausen
513. Eric Sawyer
514. Ella Morrison
515. Eric Haxthausen
516. Tina Fortugno
517. Jonathan Schneer
518. Christy Carley
519. Elizabeth Marlowe
520. Jasmin Astorga
521. Claire McNicholas Fissinger
522. Karen Proni
523. Amelia Best
524. Sonja Drimmer
525. David Powell
526. Elizabeth Morris
527. Professor Julie Peters (Columbia University)
528. Max Sala
529. Safiya O'Donnell
530. Juliet Flower MacCannell
531. Elizabeth Blackmar
532. Sczerina Perot
533. David Rosner
534. Leah DiBianco
535. Margaret Miner
536. Marv Waterstone
537. Aidan Ward
538. Steven Descoteaux
539. Kenneth Lokensgard
540. Line Mikkelsen
541. Anthi Andreopoulou
542. Nila Sanders
543. Valli Rajah
544. Alison Mariella Désir
545. Pamela Thoma
546. Peter Metsopoulos
547. Patrick Ball
548. Tristan Tomlinson
549. Christa Haxthausen
550. Tracy Williams
551. Katsuya Hirano
552. Sabrina Silver
553. Dion Macellari
554. Eriselda Zere
555. Nell Okie
556. William Mitchell
557. Paul Robichaud
558. Charles Driker-Ohren
559. Claire Mansfield
560. Mike Scott
561. Peter Cohen
562. Barbara Cohen
563. Louise Fortmann
564. MJ Maynes
565. Charles Miller
566. Lisa Brody
567. Bernard Lopez
568. Tani Barlow
569. Susan J. Brison
570. Doris Kitchen
571. Ebet Dudley
572. Bonnie Pepper
573. Alain Bengochea
574. Greg German
575. Maria Restrepo
576. Thomas Pileggi
577. Judith Gitnick
578. Schuyler Ross
579. Reina Tejero
580. Greg Wiles
581. John Oakes
582. David Potter
583. Laurie Gries
584. Joy Garnett
585. Ru Marshall
586. Patricia Payne-Marsky
587. Debbie Friedman
588. Christopher B Appel
589. Simona Sawhney
590. Jessica Riskin
591. Austin Ward
592. Qiu Lin
593. Martha Cooley
594. Melissa Vatterott
595. Jeff Allen
596. Jonthon Coulson
597. Simon Doubleday
598. James Fuerst
599. Karen Pelletier
600. Karatani Lynne
601. Tom Louis
602. Jeremy Townsend
603. Paul Markillie
604. Dana Meinecke
605. Stephen Majercik
606. Bryan Obi
607. Roger Turner
608. Jennifer Dowland
609. Marietta Smith
610. Jane LeCroy
611. Kimberly Huisman
612. Juliet Menéndez
613. Maria Omo

(List updated daily.)