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📂 Category: cornell university,federal funding,higher education,trump
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Cornell University has agreed to pay $60 million and accept the Trump administration’s interpretation of civil rights laws in order to restore federal funding and end investigations into the Ivy League school.
Cornell University President Michael Kotlikoff announced the agreement Friday, saying it supports the university’s academic freedom while restoring more than $250 million in research funding withheld by the government amid investigations into alleged civil rights violations.
The university agreed to pay $30 million directly to the US government, in addition to another $30 million for research that will support American farmers.
Read more: Trump asks 9 colleges to commit to his political agenda to improve access to federal funds
The agreement revives the campus’s partnership with the federal government “while affirming the university’s commitment to the principles of academic freedom, independence and institutional independence that have, since our founding, been an integral part of our distinctiveness,” Kotlikoff said.
See more: How the Trump administration is dramatically reshaping education in America
The six-page agreement is similar to the one the University of Virginia signed last month. It is shorter and less prescriptive than others signed by Columbia University and Brown University.
The order requires Cornell to adhere to the government’s interpretation of civil rights laws on issues related to anti-Semitism, racial discrimination and transgender issues. The Department of Justice memo ordering colleges to abandon diversity, equity and inclusion programs and transgender-friendly policies will be used as a training resource for Cornell faculty and staff.
The campus must also provide a wide range of admissions data that the government has requested separately from the campus to ensure race is not a factor in admissions decisions. President Donald Trump has suggested that some universities are ignoring the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision to end affirmative action in admissions.
See more: How Trump’s college campaign raises concerns about free speech and academic freedom
Education Minister Linda McMahon has described it as a “transformational commitment” focused on “merit, rigor and the search for truth”.
“These reforms are a major win in the fight to restore excellence to American higher education and make our schools the greatest in the world,” McMahon said on X.
The Cornell president must personally certify compliance with the agreement quarterly. The deal is valid until the end of 2028.
This appears to divide the difference on a controversial issue that colleges have grappled with as they negotiate their way out of federal scrutiny: payments made directly to the government. Columbia agreed to pay $200 million directly to the government, while Brown University reached an agreement to pay $50 million to the state’s workforce organizations. The Virginia deal included no payment at all.
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