Northwestern, Trump admin reach deal to restore frozen federal funding

EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern University has reached an agreement with the federal government to restore hundreds of thousands of dollars in research funding.

What we know:

On Friday, the university and the federal government reached a three-year agreement which resolves the current and pending investigations by the U.S. Departments of Justice, Education, and Health and Human Services, allowing the university to resume receiving funds for existing and approved grants, as well as ensuring that researchers remain eligible for future grants.

What they're saying:

"By reaching this agreement, we preserved Northwestern’s unique environment for research that advances human understanding, improves lives in myriad ways and makes us one of the world’s great universities," a statement from the school said. "I am grateful to our Board of Trustees for recognizing the need to maintain vitally important research activities and making bold decisions to finance those activities since April. At a cost of tens of millions a month, however, that funding was far from a sustainable solution."

"This is not an agreement the University enters into lightly, but one that was made based on institutional values. As an imperative to the negotiation of this agreement, we had several hard red lines we refused to cross: We would not relinquish any control over whom we hire, whom we admit as students, what our faculty teach or how our faculty teach. I would not have signed this agreement without provisions ensuring that is the case."

Details:

In the agreement, the federal government agreed to:

• Enable Northwestern to draw down all payments consistent with approved budgets for each grant, including but not limited to the overdue payment on non-terminated grants and contracts.
• Lift any stop-work orders on non-terminated grants and contracts.
• Treat Northwestern as eligible for further grants, contracts and awards, and fairly consider all applications for federal funding the University submits.
• Permanently close all pending investigations or compliance reviews by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education regarding Northwestern’s compliance with anti-discrimination laws.
• Permanently close all pending investigations, compliance reviews or inquiries by the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division regarding Northwestern’s compliance with Title VI’s prohibition against discrimination based on race in admissions.

In the agreement, the university agreed to:

• Pay the U.S. Treasury $75 million, over the course of three years.
• Establish a special committee of the Board of Trustees to ensure compliance with the agreement
• Continue compliance with federal anti-discrimination laws.
• Adhere to federal Title IX "by providing safe and fair opportunities for women, including single-sex housing for any woman, defined on the basis of sex, who requests such accommodations and all-female sports, locker rooms and showering facilities."
• Review international admissions practices and policies and develop training material to socialize international students to the norms of a campus dedicated to inquiry and open debate.
• Terminate the 2024 Deering Meadow agreement.
• Reaffirm their commitment to protect Jewish members of our community.

What's next:

The federal funding is expected to return within days and will be fully restored within 30 days, according to the university.

The government froze the money back in April amid several investigations into antisemitism.