Trump Escalates Punitive University Research Cuts

The Trump administration has threatened to pull research grants from dozens of universities over claims these institutions are failing to do enough to combat antisemitism or comply with other administration priorities, with Harvard University among the latest in its crosshairs.

A multi-agency antisemitism task force announced Monday that it is reviewing $8.7 billion in multi-year grant commitments to Harvard University, as well as $256 million in contracts between Harvard University and the federal government. The same antisemitism task force earlier canceled $400 million in funding for Columbia University and threatened to cancel more, citing the institution’s “continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.” The American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration last week accusing it of “coercing Columbia University to do its bidding and regulate speech and expression on campus by holding hostage billions of dollars in congressionally authorized federal funding.”

Free speech advocates and groups such as the Association of American Universities have criticized the Trump administration’s actions, accusing it of trying to stifle free expression and academic freedom on campuses, as well as failing to follow due process for terminating funding over civil rights violations.

“The withdrawal of research funding for reasons unrelated to research sets a dangerous and counterproductive precedent,” reads a statement published by AAU’s board of directors this week. “We urge the administration and Congress, in accordance with principles of due process, to work through the established Department of Education and Department of Justice procedures for investigating allegations of discrimination (including antisemitism, gender, or other forms of discrimination) on any campus.”

Columbia is not the only institution to see research funding cut off by the Trump administration over antisemitism concerns. Princeton University President Chris Eisgruber sent a campus-wide email yesterday sharing that several dozen research grants, including ones from the Department of Energy, NASA, and the Department of Defense had been suspended. Though Eisgruber said the “full rationale for this action is not clear,” he said Princeton is “committed to fighting antisemitism and all forms of discrimination.” A journalist for right-wing news publication The Daily Caller tweeted that $210 million in grants at Princeton had been paused by the Trump administration over antisemitism concerns, though this figure remains unconfirmed.

Princeton and Columbia are among 60 universities that the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights is currently investigating for allegedly failing to protect Jewish students under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement that universities “benefit from enormous public investments funded by U.S. taxpayers” and that support is “a privilege and contingent on scrupulous adherence to federal antidiscrimination laws.”

The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights has also launched investigations into dozens of other universities over issues other than antisemitism — including 45 institutions that partnered with an organization called The PhD Project, which the administration says “purports to provide doctoral students with insights into obtaining a PhD and networking opportunities, but limits eligibility based on the race of participants.”

The PhD Project was established to encourage African-American, Hispanic-American, and Native-American professionals to attain business doctorates, but this year opened its membership application to anyone, a spokesperson told FYI. “The PhD Project was founded with the goal of providing more role models in the front of business classrooms, which remains our goal today,” the spokesperson said.

The Trump administration also suspended $175 million in federal funding to the University of Pennsylvania last month, according to a statement from Penn President Larry Jameson. This suspension was apparently motivated by the institution’s policies on transgender athletes and the participation of a transgender athlete on the women’s swimming team in 2022. The university contends it followed National Collegiate Athletic Association and Title IX sex-based discrimination rules as they were written at the time.

“Federal funding freezes and cancellations jeopardize lifesaving and life-improving research, the loss of which will be felt by society and individuals far beyond our campus for years to come,” Jameson said. “Understandably, we are hearing concerns not only from scientists affected directly, but more broadly from students and young faculty embarking on careers in research.”