Copyright MSNBC
Cornell University has agreed to pay $60 million to unfreeze $250 million in federal funding, money the Trump administration was withholding over claims that the Ivy League institution discriminated against Jewish students during campus protests over Israel’s actions in Gaza. The deal announced Friday calls for the private school in Ithaca, New York, to pay $30 million directly to the federal government and spend another $30 million on research benefiting American farmers. The administration launched investigations earlier this year into several universities, including Cornell, after complaints that they failed to protect Jewish students during the protests. Cornell denied the accusations, and admitted no wrongdoing as part of the agreement to restart the flow of federal money. “The months of stop-work orders, grant terminations, and funding freezes have stalled cutting-edge research, upended lives and careers, and threatened the future of academic programs at Cornell,” university president Michael Kotlikoff said in announcing Friday’s deal, which is effective until 2028. In addition to restoring all funding, the government has agreed to end its investigations into Cornell. In addition to the payouts, the school will “continue to conduct annual surveys to evaluate the campus climate for Cornell students, including the climate for students with shared Jewish ancestry,” among other terms laid out in the agreement. Education Secretary Linda McMahon said on X that Cornell’s agreement shows that “U.S. universities are refocusing their attention on merit, rigor, and truth-seeking — not ideology.” Other universities, including Brown, Columbia and the University of Virginia, reached similar deals with the administration.
