Northwestern, Cornell Universities Face Federal Funding Freeze Amid Civil Rights Probes

The freeze follows the withholding of billions of dollars in federal funding from several Ivy League universities.

Demonstrators gather at an encampment where students are protesting in support of Palestinians, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, at Northwestern University campus in Evanston, Ill., on April 25, 2024. Nate Swanson/Reuters

The Trump administration is freezing more than $1 billion in federal funds at Cornell University and $790 million at Northwestern University, the latest actions targeting elite institutions facing civil rights investigations.

A White House official confirmed to The Epoch Times that the money was frozen “in connection with several ongoing, credible, and concerning Title VI investigations,” referring to the federal law prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in federally funded education programs.

Both universities acknowledged reports of the funding freezes in campus-wide messages on April 8 but said they had not received direct notification from the federal government.

Northwestern said it was “notified by members of the media,” while Cornell said it was “aware of media reports suggesting that more than $1 billion in federal grants have been frozen” but had “not received information that would confirm this figure.”

It was not immediately clear which federal agencies are involved in the freeze. However, Cornell reported receiving more than 75 “stop work” orders from the Defense Department on April 7, halting research tied to a broad array of advanced technologies.

“The affected 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,” a Cornell spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “We are actively seeking information from federal officials to learn more about the basis for these decisions.”

“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,” the spokesperson stated. “This type of research is now at jeopardy.”

The Epoch Times has reached out to the federal agencies for more information.

Cornell and Northwestern now join a growing list of elite universities—including Harvard, Columbia, Princeton, Brown, and the University of Pennsylvania—that have seen their access to federal dollars threatened in recent weeks.

Many of these institutions are also under investigation by federal agencies for alleged civil rights violations related to anti-Semitism on campus, as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies that run afoul of federal anti-discrimination law. For instance, the Department of Education is investigating Cornell for its partnership with The PhD Project, a nonprofit group the department says purports to provide doctoral students with academic support and networking opportunities but “limits eligibility based on the race of participants.”

Northwestern, meanwhile, is one of 10 schools receiving visits from the Federal Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism.

According to the task force, the visits are in response to allegations that the universities “may have failed to protect Jewish students and faculty members from unlawful discrimination, in potential violation of federal law.” The task force said it would meet with university leaders, students, staff, law enforcement, and community members to determine whether “remedial action is warranted.”

Northwestern is also among five universities being investigated by the Department of Education following reports of widespread anti-Semitic harassment in the wake of pro-Palestinian demonstrations that erupted following the Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel in the fall of 2023 and Israel’s response in Gaza. On March 10, the department sent letters to 60 universities, including Cornell and Northwestern, warning of “potential enforcement actions” if the institutions failed to protect Jewish students.

“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,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in the message.

“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.”

In Congress, an effort to impose financial penalties on schools accused of mishandling anti-Semitic incidents also gained renewed traction.

On April 7, Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) reintroduced a bill that would impose a $100,000 fine—or 5 percent of an institution’s payroll, whichever is greater—on colleges and universities found to have violated Title VI. The bill would also trigger an IRS review of a school’s tax-exempt status after three violations.

The bill made it out of the House Ways and Means Committee last year but failed to receive a vote from the full House before a December deadline.