WASHINGTON (AP) — Cornell University has agreed to pay $60 million and accept the Trump administration’s interpretation of civil rights laws in order to restore federal funding and end investigations into the Ivy League school.
Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff announced the agreement on Friday, saying it upholds the university’s academic freedom while restoring more than $250 million in research funding that the government withheld amid investigations into alleged civil rights violations. He said the government’s funding freeze had stalled research, upended careers and threatened the future of academic programs.
The university agreed to pay $30 million directly to the U.S. government along with another $30 million toward research that will support U.S. farmers.
The agreement is the latest struck between President Donald Trump’s administration and elite colleges he has accused of tolerating antisemitism and promoting far-left ideas. Trump is still locked in a standoff with Harvard, the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university, and lately has tried an incentive-based approach by offering preferential access to federal funding for other schools that sign onto his political agenda.
Kotlikoff said the agreement revives the campus’ partnership with the federal government “while affirming the university’s commitment to the principles of academic freedom, independence, and institutional autonomy that, from our founding, have been integral to our excellence.”
It requires Cornell to comply with the government’s interpretation of civil rights laws on issues involving antisemitism, racial discrimination and transgender issues. A Justice Department memo that orders colleges to abandon diversity, equity and inclusion programs and transgender-friendly policies will be used as a training resource for Cornell’s faculty and staff.
The campus must also provide a wealth of admissions data that the government has separately sought from campuses to ensure race is no longer being considered as a factor in admissions decisions. Trump has suggested some campuses are ignoring a 2023 Supreme Court decision ending affirmative action in admissions.
Did you see the question mark?
Yeah, and I find it ironic that the guy being snarky about what he thinks he knows about endowments doesn't know that they can be leveraged against without dipping into them, and just in general being an ass as the votes in this chain show, is still being an ass. Feel free to delete your comments and save some face my man.
Reading these responses has been hilarious. Why are you arguing so vehemently about something you lack even a minimal understanding of? Is this a thing you normally do?
Because most people have no fucking clue what an endowment is. They just say the number line it means something. University endowments aren't a savings account. They're not even 1 thing. They're hundreds or thousands of investments that often have legal requirements attached to them dictating how they can be spent.
I'm 100% you thought it was too.