On April 1, 2025, the US administration suspended $210 million in federal funding for Princeton University in apparent retaliation for the university’s alleged failure to respond adequately to the government’s unsubstantiated allegations of antisemitism on campus.

The conservative media outlet The Daily Caller first announced the funding freeze on the social media platform X, alleging, without evidence, that Princeton had in place racist and antisemitic policies. In an email sent on April 1, Princeton’s president Christopher L. Eisgruber confirmed that the Department of Energy, NASA, and the Defense Department had notified the university of the funding suspensions. The notification provided to Princeton, unlike letters sent to Columbia (see report) and Harvard (see report) universities, did not include information on steps the university could take to avoid or reverse the suspension. The notification came two weeks after Eisgruber published an opinion piece in The Atlantic that criticized the US administration’s actions towards Columbia University.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about formal state pressure on institutional autonomy and academic freedom, including threatened investigations, withholding or cancellation of research grants and contracts, and unilateral demands for external control over hiring, admissions, research and teaching content, and administration. While legislative and executive officials have a right to express their views about higher education communities and policies, they have a responsibility to refrain from using their offices to threaten, impose extra-legal sanctions, or otherwise dictate academic or operational decision-making. Formal state threats and pressures undermine university autonomy, academic freedom, and the university’s ability to contribute to democratic society generally.

Sources:
https://www.chronicle.com/article/nearly-half-of-princeton-u-s-federal-funding-has-reportedly-been-frozen-by-the-trump-administration
https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2025/04/princeton-news-trump-princeton-funding-no-demands-harvard-columbia
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/01/us/trump-federal-grants-princeton.html
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QYhX7CIJGDccAgzm7vy8FaTT1kIBrwl_/view
https://x.com/reaganreese_/status/1906862605773468078