The Trump administration expanded its crackdown on universities by freezing more than $1.8 billion in federal funding for Cornell and Northwestern universities, The Guardian reported. This action represents a significant escalation in the government's response to inadequate protection of Jewish students during pro-Palestinian demonstrations that swept across campuses last year.
The administration dispatched warning letters to 60 US educational institutions in early March. These communications signaled "potential enforcement actions" against universities allegedly failing to safeguard Jewish students amid protests concerning the Gaza conflict.
Cornell University president Michael Kotlikoff responded to the administration's warnings with a strongly worded opinion piece published in the New York Times on March 31. His article defended academic institutions' responsibility to maintain open discourse despite mounting external pressures: "Universities, despite rapidly escalating political, legal and financial risks, cannot afford to cede the space of public discourse and the free exchange of ideas," he wrote.
On Tuesday, a US official confirmed the administration had frozen approximately $1 billion in funding for Cornell University. The official also revealed an additional $790 million freeze affecting Northwestern University, home to a distinguished journalism program. The suspended funding primarily encompasses grants and contracts with federal health, education, agriculture, and defense departments. This latest action follows similar investigations targeting Brown, Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, and the University of Pennsylvania.
The New York Times calculated that President Trump's administration had already frozen at least $3.3 billion in federal funding to elite universities over the past month, with billions more currently under review.
Cornell officials acknowledged awareness of "media reports" about the $1 billion funding freeze in a Tuesday night statement, according to an official statement. "While we have not received information that would confirm this figure, earlier today Cornell received more than 75 stop work orders from the Department of Defense related to research that is profoundly significant to American national defense, cybersecurity, and health," university representatives stated.
The affected Cornell grants "include research into new materials for jet engines, propulsion systems, large-scale information networks, robotics, superconductors, and space and satellite communications, as well as cancer research," they added. Northwestern similarly stated it knew about media reports concerning the funding freeze but had not yet received formal government notification and had cooperated fully with the investigation.
"Federal funds that Northwestern receives drive innovative and life-saving research, like the recent development by Northwestern researchers of the world's smallest pacemaker, and research fueling the fight against Alzheimer's disease. This type of research is now in jeopardy," a Northwestern spokesperson declared.
In their Tuesday statement, Kotlikoff and other Cornell leaders defended their institution as having "worked diligently to create an environment where all individuals and viewpoints are protected and respected," and indicated they were "actively seeking information from federal officials to learn more about the basis for these decisions," The Guardian reported.
"We cannot let our caution overtake our purpose," Kotlikoff wrote in the New York Times piece. "Our colleges and universities are cradles of democracy and bulwarks against autocracy."
President Trump has intensified efforts to suppress pro-Palestinian campus demonstrations against Israel which followed Hamas' deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. The president has characterized protesters as antisemitic and sympathetic to Hamas, posing a threat to foreign policy.
