Cornell University has agreed to pay US$60 million to settle a row with the Trump administration that will see the restoration of US$250 million of federal funding to the US Ivy League school, it said Friday.
Cornell was one of several elite universities against which President Donald Trump led a charge after returning to the White House, accusing them of being bastions of liberal bias and harbouring antisemites.
As a result of Trump‘s crackdown, Cornell said it was subjected to stop-work orders, grant terminations and funding freezes with the total value of the interruptions put at US$250 million.
The Trump administration launched civil rights probes against Cornell and dozens of universities alleging they allowed Jewish and Israeli students to face discrimination during campus protests against Israel’s war in Gaza.
Under the deal, Cornell said it would invest US$30 million over three years in research to strengthen US agriculture, and pay US$30 million directly to the government over three years.
The civil rights probe against Cornell was also terminated under the deal.
“The resolution is explicit that Cornell’s agreement to these terms is not an admission of wrongdoing,” the university said in a statement.
Cornell University president Michael Kotlikoff welcomed the announcement and said the agreement “acknowledges the government’s commitment to enforce existing anti-discrimination law, while protecting our academic freedom and institutional independence”.
“These discussions have now yielded a result that will enable us to return to our teaching and research in restored partnership with federal agencies.”
Trump had initially sought to take control of the admissions and hiring decisions of those universities targeted, but Cornell stressed in its statement Friday that the deal allows it to “make admissions and hiring decisions based on merit”.
