Cornell in the crosshairs: Trump freezes $1 billion over campus antisemitism probe

Cornell University (NYT picture)

In a sweeping transfer aimed toward imposing anti-discrimination legal guidelines on school campuses, the Trump administration has frozen over $1 billion in federal funding to Cornell University and $790 million to Northwestern University, citing ongoing civil rights investigations.
“The money was frozen in connection with several ongoing, credible, and concerning Title VI investigations,” a Trump administration official instructed Fox News. The halted funds reportedly contain grants and contracts from a number of federal departments, together with Agriculture, Defense, Education, and Health and Human Services, in response to two officers who spoke with the New York Times.
This motion is a part of a broader federal initiative focusing on elite universities over what the administration describes as noncompliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, notably in regard to antisemitism. The administration has taken comparable steps towards different outstanding establishments in current months.
Harvard University can be beneath federal scrutiny. The Trump administration has launched a complete evaluation of $9 billion in grants and contracts awarded to the Ivy League faculty. This contains $255.6 million in present federal contracts between Harvard, its associates, and the authorities, together with $8.7 billion in long-term grant agreements, in response to a Reuters report.
“Harvard’s failure to protect students on campus from antisemitic discrimination — all while promoting divisive ideologies over free inquiry — has put its reputation in serious jeopardy,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon instructed Reuters. “Harvard can right these wrongs and restore itself to a campus dedicated to academic excellence and truth-seeking, where all students feel safe on its campus.”
The strikes come on the heels of a high-profile case involving Columbia University, which noticed $400 million in federal funding withdrawn after the administration’s job drive discovered the faculty had not sufficiently addressed antisemitism on campus. Columbia ultimately agreed to a number of coverage modifications in response to the ultimatum, however reactions have been break up. While some Jewish organizations welcomed the shift, critics argued the federal motion set a harmful precedent that would chill educational freedom and free expression.
The investigations replicate a broader marketing campaign by the Trump administration to tie federal funding to strict enforcement of civil rights protections, notably relating to campus climates and antisemitism. As scrutiny intensifies, establishments throughout the nation are bracing for what may very well be a significant redefinition of the boundaries between authorities oversight and educational independence.