Northwestern pays $75M in Trump administration civil rights settlement
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
The Trump administration announced Friday a comprehensive federal civil rights agreement with Northwestern University; This agreement required the school to pay $75 million and protect students and staff from any “race-based admissions practices” and a “hostile educational environment toward Jewish students.”
The Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Education (DOE) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said in a statement that the agreement aims to protect Northwestern from dangers. “unlawful discrimination” and calls on the university to “maintain clear policies and procedures regarding demonstrations, protests, demonstrations, and other expressive activities” as well as to implement mandatory anti-Semitism training.
“Today’s settlement marks another victory in the Trump Administration’s fight to ensure that American educational institutions protect Jewish students and prioritize merit,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. he said. “Institutions that accept federal funds must comply with civil rights law; we are grateful to Northwestern for negotiating this historic agreement.”
Northwestern will pay US$75 million through 2028.
USA BLOCKED TRUMP’S EFFORT TO FREEZE MORE THAN $2 BILLION OF HARVARD FUNDS
Northwestern University campus in Evanston. (Chris Walker/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The new agreement comes after the Trump administration previously reached a $221 million settlement with Columbia University to resolve multiple federal civil rights investigations. The settlement includes a $200 million payment over three years for alleged discriminatory practices and a $21 million payment to resolve antisemitic employment discrimination allegations against Jewish faculty following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks in Israel.
DOE Secretary Linda McMahon called the Northwest agreement “a major win for current and future Northwest students, alumni, faculty, and the future of American higher education.”
“The agreement solidifies policy changes that will protect students and other members of the campus from harassment and discrimination and recommits the school to merit-based hiring and admissions,” he said in a statement. “The reforms reflect bold leadership at Northwestern and are a road map for institutional leaders across the country to help rebuild public trust in our colleges and universities.”
Northwestern referred Fox News Digital to a statement from university president Henry Bienen reacting to the deal, saying it would return hundreds of millions of dollars in critical research funding.
SOLUTION TALKS BETWEEN THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION AND HARVARD ARE BEING BLOCKED: REPORT
Attorney General Pam Bondi celebrated the “historic agreement” with Northwestern University on Nov. 28. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
“This is not an agreement that the University signed lightly, but an agreement based on institutional values,” Bienen said. “As a requirement of negotiating this agreement, we had several hard red lines that we refused to cross: We will not give up any control over who we hire, who we accept as students, what our faculty teaches, or how our faculty teach. I would not have signed this agreement if there were not provisions that ensured that was the case.”
Bienen added, “The Northwest rules the Northwest. Period.”
The university president also said the $75 million payment was “not an admission of guilt, but merely a condition of the agreement.” It stated that Northwestern “has not been found to have violated any laws and expressly disclaims liability for all allegations in the investigations, which are now closed.”
U.S. education secretary Linda McMahon called the Trump administration’s civil rights agreement with Northwestern “a huge win for current and future Northwestern students, alumni, faculty, and the future of American higher education.” (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
In its statement announcing the settlement, the DOJ said it would close federal agencies’ pending investigations and consider Northwestern eligible for future grants, contracts and awards.
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD FOX NEWS APPLICATION
The Trump administration previously froze nearly $790 million in federal funds from Northwestern University and more than $1 billion in federal funds from Cornell University due to possible civil rights investigations at both prestigious schools.
