Diego Ramos: Academic Freedom | Trump’s University Blackmail Results

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Universities in 2025 proved that the federal government can indeed blackmail academic institutions by withholding federal funds and forcing schools not only to give money to the government but also fundamentally alter the way their campuses operate.

In a statement, The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University said, “Columbia’s acquiescence to the agreement is nonetheless likely to provide cover for the Trump administration’s ongoing, lawless assault on higher education.” 

In company with Columbia are Northwestern University, Cornell University, Brown University, the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) and the University of Virginia (UVA).

Since July of last year, the six universities have cut deals with the federal government after the Trump administration has opened dozens of investigations across the country. Most of these agreements appear very similar, with the government seeking payment and a laundry list of conditions relating to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies as well as policies targeting transgender students.

Of the six universities, four have had to agree to pay tens of millions of dollars in order to restore funding. The highest sum comes from Columbia University, which had to dole out $200 million to the government to “settle claims related to discriminatory practices” with an additional $21 million to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in an agreement “to compensate employees who may have experienced antisemitism on Columbia’s campus post-Oct. 7, 2023,” according to the commission’s website.

Instead of legally fighting the Trump administration’s investigations into civil rights violations, Northwestern University agreed to pay $75 million, despite admitting no wrongdoing. “Litigation initiated by the university would have taken a long time to work its way through the legal system. During that time, Northwestern would have been severely damaged, both financially and in the scope and breadth of research we could conduct,” states a lengthy questionnaire from the university.

In a similar settlement, Cornell University is expected to pay $30 million to the government to put a stop to investigations and compliance reviews regarding anti-discrimination laws. These three payments are expected to be made over three years. 

Brown University, however, has to pay $50 million over 10 years “to state workforce development organizations operating in compliance with anti-discrimination laws” rather than directly paying the government. These work force development programs, according to the New York Times, “are conceivably beyond the White House’s easy reach.”

Only the University of Virginia (UVA) and the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) avoided a hefty financial penalty. Rather, UVA has had to do away with diversity, equity and inclusion practices the Department of Justice (DOJ) deems unlawful as well as have the UVA president submit quarterly reports demonstrating compliance to the agreement to the DOJ through 2028.

The Cavalier Daily, UVA’s student newspaper, published an op-ed by its editorial board in response to the deal, stating that Interim University President Paul Mahoney “has set a precedent for future coercive deals between the federal government and state institutions of higher education.”

The editorial goes on to say, “Although the immediate effects of this act are unknown, the imperiousness of the power now granted to the Justice Department unfortunately traps the University until at least 2028.”

UPenn experienced perhaps the most bizarre requests, which saw transgender swimmer Lia Thomas singled out as the Trump administration requested the university to give records and titles earned by transgender athletes to cisgender athletes. Transgender women athletes are also to be barred from competing in women’s competitions along with other policies related to “biology-based definitions” given by the administration.

The Daily Pennsylvanian, UPenn’s student newspaper, reported on numerous dismayed responsesfrom faculty and students regarding the agreement. The most stark response came from Beans Velocci, an assistant professor of history and core faculty member of the Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies department, stating,

“This decision is a stark reminder of where Penn’s loyalties and investments lie: not with the pursuit of knowledge, not with standing up for the marginalized members of its community, not even with good sportsmanship, but with kissing the Trump ring for monetary gain.”

These concessions allow these universities to restore up to hundreds of millions of dollars in frozen federal grants as well as ending or pausing any pending investigations. The University of Pennsylvania saw around $175 million in federal grants and contracts restored, while Cornell reclaimed over $250 million and Brown received “reimbursement of more than $50 million in unpaid federal grant costs.”

The biggest “winners” include Northwestern, reclaiming $790 million in federal funds, and Columbia University, with more than $400 million in withheld funds restored.

Some schools, such as Northwestern, Cornell and Brown, have included provisions that superficially allow them to maintain independence of curricula, academic speech, hiring and admissions decisions.

Columbia University Acting President Claire Shipman has called their agreement a “step forward” and maintains that it “preserves Columbia’s autonomy and authority over faculty hiring, admissions and academic decision-making.” When examining the terms of the agreement, this looks to be false, as many provisions infiltrate these very policies.

For admissions, the university is obliged to supply the government with data “showing both rejected and admitted students broken down by race, color, grade point average, and performance on standardized tests.”

The university must also “develop training materials to socialize all students to campus norms and values more broadly,” ask international student-applicants “questions designed to elicit their reasons for wishing to study in the United States,” as well as ensure “all students, international and domestic, are committed to the longstanding traditions of American universities.”

Similar provisions relating to sharing admissions data was required of Northwestern, Cornell and Brown. 

Most schools were also subject to the Trump administration’s crackdown on transgender students, where the definition of sex and gender is limited to a male-female binary and “bathrooms, showers, locker rooms, or dormitories” would therefore be limited to “sex-based boundaries rooted in biological differences,” according to a memo from Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Furthermore, Northwestern, Cornell, Brown and Columbia were all required to conduct “wellness” surveys for Jewish students and assess the “climate” on campus for these students. Some more specific than others, the provisions generally call for antisemitism to be addressed following the 2024 encampment movement, with Brown requiring enhanced security at the Jewish student center, which is part of Hillel International, and Columbia having to appoint a university administrator to “conduct a thorough review of the portfolio of programs in regional areas across the University, starting with the Middle East,” according to the resolution agreement.

This follows the Trump administration’s demand that Columbia’s Department of Middle East, South Asian and African Studies be placed under academic receivership, a procedure that calls for a university to take away control of an academic department, giving the reins to a scholar from a different department, a move widely criticized by civil liberties groups.

The Knight First Amendment Institute also addressed this in their statement:

“Setting aside the question of whether there are good reasons for Columbia to single out its programs relating to the Middle East for special scrutiny at this particular moment, it is disturbing that the settlement requires the university to conduct this review, dictates the scope and purpose of the review, and gives the Trump administration the power to go to court if it concludes that Columbia has not satisfied its obligations. These provisions are a profound intrusion into Columbia’s autonomy.”

Notably, Northwestern was specifically targeted for its 2024 Deering Meadow Agreement, a pro-Palestinian agreement that “promised additional support for Muslim, Middle Eastern, North African and Palestinian students and faculty — in addition to more transparency about its investments,” in exchange for the end of the campus encampment protests.

The university does not disclose its investments but per the agreement, “the University promised to provide pathways for students to engage with the Investment Committee of the Board of Trustees, including reestablishing an Advisory Committee on Investment Responsibility in the fall,” according to a Daily Northwestern report.

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First published in ScheerPost. Included in Vox Populi with permission.

Diego Ramos ScheerPost Special Projects Editor and New York bureau chief, is a journalist from Queens, NY. He has previously worked at BuzzFeed News and was managing editor of Annenberg News at USC.