White House Freezes Billions in Funds for Cornell and Northwestern Universities

The White House announced on Tuesday that it has suspended federal funds exceeding $1 billion for Cornell University and about $790 million for Northwestern University amid ongoing investigations into dubious accusations of civil rights violations at both universities.

The Trump administration has increasingly leveraged the threat of revoked grant funding to pressure universities into aligning with its far right political agenda. In March, it sent warning letters to 60 universities, accusing them of failing “to protect Jewish students on campus” and threatening funding cuts.

Cornell, one of the universities named, pushed back forcefully. University President Michael Kotlikoff penned an op-ed in The New York Times reaffirming the institution’s commitment to academic freedom and open discourse. He argued that universities must be able to engage with global issues — such as Israel’s genocide in Gaza — without fear of government retaliation.

“Universities, despite rapidly escalating political, legal and financial risks, cannot afford to cede the space of public discourse and the free exchange of ideas,” Kotlikoff wrote. “We cannot let our caution overtake our purpose. Our colleges and universities are cradles of democracy and bulwarks against autocracy.”

Critics of the Trump administration have argued that it is weaponizing accusations of antisemitism to suppress pro-Palestine speech, silence dissent, and undermine academic freedom under the pretense of civil rights enforcement.

“The attack on universities is part of an ideological battle to shut down any dissent against Donald Trump’s agenda. It makes sense for them [the Trump administration] to start by targeting the pro-Palestinian movement with the cynical weaponization of antisemitism, because it activates both decades of cultivated anti-Arab sentiments, and a more generalized anti-immigrant sensibility,” said Nivedita Majumdar, author of The World in a Grain of Sand: Postcolonial Literature and Radical Universalism, in a March interview with Truthout. “But we need to be very clear that they won’t stop with pro-Palestinian protesters; it’s just the lowest-hanging fruit.”

Funding has already been revoked from institutions like Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, and the University of Maine. According to The New York Times, over $3.3 billion in federal funds to leading universities has been halted in the past month alone, with more under review, including funds for Harvard University and Brown University.

Columbia University, in particular, drew backlash from academics and free speech advocates after complying with several of the Trump administration’s demands in hopes of reclaiming federal funding. These included increased administrative oversight of its Middle Eastern Studies department, a campus-wide ban on face coverings, expanded authority for campus security to detain or remove individuals, and a mandate to boost “intellectual diversity” by hiring more faculty at its Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies.

Former Columbia University president Lee Bollinger recently described these developments as “an authoritarian takeover” in an interview with The Chronicle of Higher Education.

“We cannot get ourselves to see how this is going to unfold in its most frightening versions. You neutralize the branches of government; you neutralize the media; you neutralize universities, and you’re on your way,” Bollinger said. “We’re beginning to see the effects on universities. It’s very, very frightening.”

On Tuesday night, Cornell acknowledged media reports that federal agencies may be freezing up to $1 billion in research funding. While the university had not received formal confirmation of the figure, it did report receiving more than 75 stop-work orders from the Department of Defense that same day.

In response, Kotlikoff and other university leaders asserted that Cornell has “worked diligently to create an environment where all individuals and viewpoints are protected and respected.” They added that university leaders are “actively seeking information from federal officials to learn more about the basis for these decisions.”

Northwestern University also confirmed in a statement to Inside Higher Ed that it was aware of media reports about a potential funding freeze. However, it said it had yet to receive formal notice from the federal government and noted that it has been cooperating fully with the investigation.

But as some universities emphasize compliance and cooperation, faculty are making it clear that such strategies won’t shield higher education from the broader political assault it now faces.

“Academic freedom is not Trump’s to take or boards’ to give away. Our commitment to truth-telling will not be compromised by lobbying groups, donors and politicians, and the governance of our institutions will not be outsourced to boards for whom we are appendages to investment portfolios,” Jennifer Ruth, a professor at Portland State University, recently wrote for Truthout. “Our universities will be by and for the people who work and study at them, not by and for finance capitalists, ‘broligarchs’ and fascists.”