Their botched handling of campus antisemitism is proving costly for elite universities under the Trump administration.
Northwestern University agreed to pay $75 million over a three-year period to settle potential civil-rights violations stemming from surging anti-Jewish hostility following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, which prompted Israel to declare war.
The agreement reinstates an estimated $790 million in federal grants frozen in April and restores the university’s eligibility for future contracts and awards.
In addition, Northwestern will adhere to merit-based admissions and hiring processes, and forswear programs that promote outcomes based on race, color, sex or national origin, according to the deal unveiled Friday by Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“Today’s settlement marks another victory in the Trump Administration’s fight to ensure that American educational institutions protect Jewish students and put merit first,” said Ms. Bondi in a statement. “Institutions that accept federal funds are obligated to follow civil rights law — we are grateful to Northwestern for negotiating this historic deal.”
With the agreement, Northwestern becomes the sixth university to regain federal contracts and grants by striking deals with the Trump administration, spurred by their handling of protests and encampments that engulfed U.S. campuses in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Northwestern’s $75 million payout is second only to the $221 million payment deal reached in July with Columbia University, which includes a $21 million fund to settle civil-rights claims brought against the Ivy League institution.
Earlier this month, Cornell University settled with the Trump administration for $60 million, while Brown University agreed to a $50 million payout in October.
The University of Virginia and University of Pennsylvania agreed to settle federal civil rights investigations without incurring financial penalties.
The Penn agreement included an apology to female athletes over the participation of transgender swimmer Lia Thomas during the 2021-22 season.
At least one prominent university, Harvard, has sued the Trump administration to regain its federal grants, but Northwestern Interim President Henry Bienen said the risks of litigation were too great.
“The cost of a legal fight was too high and the risks too grave,” he said in an online Q&A. “If our $790 million in federal research funding remained frozen, the freeze threatened to gut our labs, drive away faculty, and set back entire fields of discovery. Our overarching goal is to protect people and preserve the institution, and to enable life-saving research to continue. That’s what this agreement does.”
He stressed that the deal resolves federal inquiries launched by three departments – Justice, Education, and Health and Human Services – and preserves Northwestern’s “academic freedom and autonomy.”
Northwestern did agree to terminate the Dearing Meadow Agreement, a pact struck with anti-Israel protesters in April 2024 that offered concessions on financial transparency and investments in exchange for dismantling the tent encampment on the Evanston, Illinois, campus.
The Deering Meadow Agreement allowed the university to end the encampment without bringing in police.
But the administration was accused of capitulating to protesters with the deal, which included funding two slots for visiting Palestinian faculty, full scholarships for five Palestinian students, and separate housing for students who are Muslim or from the Middle East and North Africa.
Northwestern President Michael Schill resigned four months later after the agreement was reached.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon called the resolution “a huge win for current and future Northwestern students, alumni, faculty, and for the future of American higher education.”
As part of the agreement, “Northwestern shall maintain clear policies and procedures relating to demonstrations, protests, displays, and other expressive activities, as well as implement mandatory antisemitism training for all students, faculty, and staff,” the Justice Department said in a statement.
“Universities that receive federal funding have a responsibility to comply with the law, including protecting against racial discrimination and antisemitism,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon. “We appreciate the significant improvements Northwestern has made and are gratified to reach an agreement that safeguards [the] rights of all the university’s applicants, students, and employees.”
