Posted on Friday, April 11, 2025
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by Alan Jamison
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0 Comments
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President Donald Trump has frozen nearly $3 billion in federal funding to universities, fulfilling his promise to hold schools accountable for allowing antisemitism on campuses and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
The Trump administration originally cut $400 million in federal funding from Columbia University in March for allowing anti-Israel protests and encampments last year. The administration has now cut federal funding from additional universities since the beginning of April. These cuts include over $1 billion from Cornell University, $510 million from Brown University, $210 million from Princeton University, and $790 million from Northwestern University.
“We have been addressing the issue of antisemitism on campuses,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a Cabinet meeting Thursday. “There’s been some grant funding and contract funding that we’ve reviewed and some canceled, and some we’ve put on hold waiting for that, while we do an investigation.”
When federal funding was paused from Columbia University, the Trump administration provided a list of steps the school would need to take before funding would continue again. This list included meaningful discipline for students who participated in anti-Israel encampments, banning masks as a form of identity concealment, adopting a definition of antisemitism, and reforming admissions to conform with federal law.
Within a few weeks, Columbia University announced plans to comply with the administration. The situation eventually led to the university’s interim President Katrina Armstrong stepping down. The Trump administration will likely seek similar agreements with the other universities that had their funding paused.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Thursday that the Department of Defense (DOD) is also eliminating federal grants to Northwestern and Cornell.
“In support of the president’s priorities to stop federal funding for academic institutions that tolerate antisemitism and support divisive DEI programs, this week DOD is also pausing over $500 million in funding to Northwestern University and Cornell University,” he said. “And that’s on top of the $70 million in funding we’ve already paused at Columbia, Penn, Brown, and Princeton over the last few weeks, as if any of these institutions need more government money at all.”
The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced in March that 60 universities were under investigation for failing to protect Jewish students on campus. The administration’s recent actions to freeze funding to universities are likely a result of these investigations.
“The Department is deeply disappointed that Jewish students studying on elite U.S. campuses continue to fear for their safety amid the relentless antisemitic eruptions that have severely disrupted campus life for more than a year,” McMahon said at the time. “University leaders must do better. U.S. colleges and universities benefit from enormous public investments funded by U.S. taxpayers. That support is a privilege, and it is contingent on scrupulous adherence to federal antidiscrimination laws.”
Alan Jamison is the pen name of a political writer with extensive experience writing for several notable politicians and news outlets.
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