Trump admin. hits Cornell, Northwestern with $1.79B funding freeze over anti-Semitism
Northwestern University has been at the center of several anti-Semitic controversies covered by Campus Reform.
A school spokesperson told Campus Reform that the school ‘was informed by members of the media that the federal government plans to freeze a significant portion of our federal funding.’
President Donald Trump’s administration has imposed new funding suspensions for Cornell University in New York totaling $1 billion, and for Northwestern University in Illinois totaling $790 million.
The New York Times first reported on the story on Tuesday.
A Northwestern spokesperson told Campus Reform that the school “was informed by members of the media that the federal government plans to freeze a significant portion of our federal funding,” but that the “University has not received any official notification from the federal government.” He added that “Federal funds that Northwestern receives drive innovative and life-saving research,” and added that “[t]he University has fully cooperated with investigations by both the Department of Education and Congress.”
Northwestern University was one of more than 30 schools that Campus Reform Editor-in-Chief Zachary Marschall filed a Title VI complaint against, claiming the school had allowed an atmosphere of anti-Semitism to grow on campus following the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist massacre of Jews.
[RELATED: WATCH: Dr. Marschall says Northwestern University is ‘ignoring’ anti-Semitism issue]
The complaint resulted in a Department of Education investigation of the school—meaning that Dr. Marschall was the first person in the U.S. to successfully work to get such an anti-Semitism investigation started against Northwestern following Oct. 7.
In May 2024, Campus Reform also exclusively reported that Northwestern alumni with ties to the Coalition Against Anti-Semitism at Northwestern were calling on the school to cut off ties with the Qatari outlet Al Jazeera. Specifically, Northwestern was operating a campus in Qatar since 2008, and that campus was engaged in “collaboration” with Al Jazeera.
Al Jazeera has faced broad criticism before and accusations of anti-Israel and pro-terrorism bias. Israel has also accused Al Jazeera of employing several journalists who work for Palestinian terrorist organizations.
The nonprofit Canary Mission also accused Northwestern’s Qatar campus of teaching “students to legitimize antisemitic, anti-Israel and anti-American narratives in Western media.”
Four days after Campus Reform’s exclusive report, Dr. Marschall wrote about an upcoming congressional hearing featuring Northwestern President Michael Schill, criticizing him for surrendering to demands made by disruptive anti-Israel activists who had occupied the campus.
During the hearing, Schill said he was not aware of the Qatar campus’s ties to Al Jazeera. When informed of those connections by Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah), he replied: “I am actually concerned by the agreement you are talking about with Al Jazeera and we are going to look into it.”
On Oct. 8, Campus Reform exclusively reported that Northwestern had quietly cut off its ties to Al Jazeera in July, as told to Campus Reform by a spokesperson for the school.
The Coalition Against Anti-Semitism at Northwestern shared with Campus Reform a message stating that it is “supportive of a deeper investigation into antisemitism at Northwestern University.”
“It is our hope that Northwestern University will protect the federal civil rights of all of its students, and ensure equal treatment under federal law. Only sustained, structural reform will ensure that every student can learn in a safe, inclusive environment,” the group added.
Cornell University has also been the subject of an investigation regarding anti-Semitism and DEI.
A Cornell spokesperson shared with Campus Reform an announcement made Tuesday by school President Michael I. Kotlikoff, Provost Kavita Bala, and Provost for Medical Affairs Robert A. Harrington.
Cornell’s leadership announced that the university is “aware of media reports suggesting that more than $1 billion in federal grants have been frozen,” adding: “While we have not received information that would confirm this figure, earlier today Cornell received more than 75 stop work orders from the Department of Defense related to research that is profoundly significant to American national defense, cybersecurity, and health.”
The Ivy League university’s leaders also added that they “are actively seeking information from federal officials to learn more about the basis for these decisions.”
