On April 8, 2025, the US administration froze more than $1 billion in federal grants and contracts for Cornell University on the grounds that the university had allegedly failed to respond adequately to the administration’s unsubstantiated allegations of antisemitism on campus.
Cornell University confirmed that, while they had received no official notice about the full scope of the funding freeze, its rationale, or any actions it could take to have it reversed, the Department of Defense had issued more than 75 stop-work orders related to grants supporting research on defense, cybersecurity, and health. The Departments of Agriculture, Education, and Health and Human Services had reportedly also paused grants and contracts to Cornell University. On April 17, according to a screenshot posted on X by a Nature journalist, an NIH administrator sent an internal email stating that the US Department of Health & Human Services had stated that it should “hold off on making awards to schools where the funds have been frozen, ie., Columbia, Brown, Northwestern, Cornell, Weill-Cornell, Harvard.” An administration official later confirmed to media sources that the funding freeze was related to two ongoing Title VI investigations into Cornell for reports of antisemitic or anti-Muslim harassment.
Scholars at Risk is concerned about formal state pressure on institutional autonomy and academic freedom, including withholding or cancellation of research grants and contracts outside of normal procedures, and without transparent investigations or any due process or opportunity to rebut any allegations or evidence presented. In context with similar actions against other institutions on similarly unsubstantiated allegations that are not related to specific grants or contracts, the funding freeze strongly suggests an attempt to force compliance with extralegal demands or risk serious harm to the academic and financial standing of the institution.
While legislative and executive officials have an oversight role over institutions receiving public funds or benefits, they have a responsibility to refrain from abusing the oversight role in ways that erode autonomy and academic freedom, including by threatening, imposing extra-legal sanctions, or otherwise dictating academic or operational decision-making. Formal government state threats and pressures undermine university autonomy, academic freedom, and the university’s ability to contribute to democratic society generally.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/us/politics/cornell-northwestern-university-funds-trump.html
https://apnews.com/article/trump-cornell-northwestern-federal-funding-frozen-37192b49730304960929dcb72f09469c
https://www.cornellsun.com/article/2025/04/2bqjc8hgevao
https://statements.cornell.edu/2025/20250408-federal-research-funding.cfm
https://x.com/maxdkozlov/status/1913327818873700556