Northwestern University faculty ask school not to cave to Trump over funding freeze in open letter
A group of faculty at Northwestern University have written an open letter to school leadership, asking them not to make a deal with President Trump after he froze hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding.
The Trump administration withheld approximately $790 million in funds from Northwestern in April, accusing the school of fostering antisemitism as part of a Department of Education investigation into pro-Palestinian protests on campus in 2024 that they allege violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
In the letter, published in the Daily Northwestern, the Northwestern Concerned Faculty Group says they believe Northwestern will be "pressured to reach a 'deal' with the Trump administration" to release the funds.
"We call on Northwestern's leadership to resist the administration's attack on fundamental democratic principles by refusing to 'make a deal' with the administration," the faculty write. "Acquiescence to the administration's tactics would make Northwestern complicit in an assault on higher education, which is an essential bulwark of civil society. The administration is skirting legal processes and demanding what amounts to ransom from universities; such actions continue its well-documented and dangerous abuse of executive power."
Last week, Columbia University in New York City reached a $200 million settlement with the Trump administration to be paid over three years, along with an additional $21 million to settle investigations from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The settlement restores $400 million in federal grants that the Trump administration has been withholding since March.
The settlement also bans face masks and coverings intended to conceal a person's identity, codifies a policy regarding protesters showing university IDs, requires hiring special safety officers, and required the university to follow laws banning considering race in student admissions and faculty hiring. The school is also required to have a federal monitor overseeing the policy changes.
"We know that some university leaders hope to protect the future of higher education by negotiating agreements with the Trump administration. We too wish to protect the important work of colleges and universities — where faculty teach students, conduct and publish ground-breaking research, and produce music, art and literature," the open letter states. "But consenting to an agreement like Columbia's will weaken Northwestern and fail to prevent future interference in our mission. In short, it will violate the fiduciary responsibility of Northwestern's leadership. The way forward is to not give in to the lawlessness of the Trump administration — it is to stand up for American institutions of higher education."
Brown University also cut a deal with the Trump administration to restore grant funding in exchange for commitments on women's sports, antisemitism, admissions practices and a donation of $50 million to workforce development programs.
The University of Pennsylvania also recently reached a deal with the Trump administration over their policy on transgender athletes in women's sports.
Northwestern has recently announced a hiring freeze, cutbacks, layoffs and program and benefits changes to cope with the budgetary shortfall from the federal funding freeze. The school vowed to keep funding the research programs endangered by the president's federal funding freeze, but as a result it is now facing major budget shortfalls.