Cornell nears $100 mn White House deal to restore frozen research funds

By Akayla Gardner and Nacha Cattan

 

The White House is eyeing a settlement of as much as $100 million in negotiations with Cornell University about an agreement that would reinstate hundreds of millions of dollars in frozen federal research funding, according to people familiar with the matter.  

A deal could be announced as soon as next week, said the people, who asked not to be named because the talks are private. One of the issues still under discussion is whether the pact would call for a resolution monitor to supervise how Cornell is carrying out changes required by the US — an arrangement accepted by Columbia University in a landmark $221 million deal last month.

 

An agreement would make Cornell the latest Ivy League school to settle with President Donald Trump as the White House probes US colleges over allegations they mishandled antisemitic incidents on campus after the October 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel and the Jewish state’s retaliatory response in Gaza. Brown University announced a $50 million deal with the government this week.  

 

Cornell declined to comment. 

 

The Cornell terms are still under discussion and subject to change. One of the people familiar with the talks characterized $100 million as the maximum, while another described it as within the range of $100 million. 

 

Education Secretary Linda McMahon has said that additional settlements with universities are likely to use the Columbia agreement as a roadmap. That deal included a cash fine for civil-rights violations and a wide set of policy changes. 

 

In addition to mounting probes of antisemitism on campus, the administration has also pushed colleges to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs and criticized them for political bias against conservatives. The government agreed to restore funding to the University of Pennsylvania after the school reached a deal limiting the participation of transgender athletes in sports. 

 

The broad-based push for change has fueled concerns that the government is impinging on academic freedom and seeking to use the universities to advance its own viewpoints and agenda. Harvard University, the primary target of the Trump’s pressure campaign, has filed two lawsuits challenging the government’s efforts to freeze research funding and block international student enrollment. 

 

But the funding freeze has been taking a toll. Cornell warned in June that the pullback of US funding would force it to adopt “financial austerity in all areas.” Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff said at the time that job cuts would likely be required, in addition to restrictions on discretionary spending and hiring. 

 

Cornell’s $10.7 billion endowment is one of the smaller funds in the Ivy League.