How the Federal Settlements With Elite Universities Are Unfolding

By Aaron Gifford

Eight months into President Donald Trump’s second term, four universities have reached settlements with the federal government following investigations into their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices and anti-Semitism on campus.

Shortly after the president took his oath of office, he signed executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism on college campuses as well as DEI and transgender ideology in college classrooms and hiring practices. Investigations into the nation’s wealthiest schools ensued and the administration has taken action based on the findings.

The president has leveraged federal funding cuts—totaling hundreds of millions of dollars—and litigation from the Justice Department to bring institutions of higher education in line with civil rights policies and rein in unlawful behavior on campus.

Trump also threatened to revoke Harvard University’s tax-exempt status and block visas for foreign students.

Harvard, hailed by academia as the champion of resistance, responded with lawsuits.

Several other embattled schools haven’t officially come to terms yet.

Still, proponents of higher education reform say the federal government’s recent $221 million settlement with Columbia University solidified a playbook for other schools to follow.

The measures also empower university leaders and trustees who longed for similar changes but lacked leverage against left-leaning professors, according to Jay Greene, senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation.

“Faculties had collectively owned universities, and problems had been allowed to fester for years,” Greene told The Epoch Times.

“Senior leadership at these schools gains back control. They are relieved, and they get to blame Trump. It’s a total win.”

The Roadmap

Shortly after taking the oath of office, Trump announced that his administration was investigating some of the country’s wealthiest universities for anti-Semitism on their campuses in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre.

The federal government also began looking into discriminatory campus practices such as race-based admissions or hiring, mandatory diversity training, affinity groups, ideological instruction, and Title IX violations such as allowing males to participate in women’s sports.

Additionally, the Department of Education announced that it would investigate 45 schools affiliated with the PhD Project, a nonprofit organization committed to boosting racial diversity among doctoral students.

Columbia University leaders, facing the loss of $400 million in federal grants, acknowledged their failures to deal with anti-Semitism. The university’s July 23 settlement with the government includes a $200 million fine and $21 million in total payments to Jewish employees harassed by coworkers and students.

The settlement also stipulates that protesting students are banned from wearing masks and prohibits hiring practices based on gender and race. In addition, student disciplinary procedures were moved from the faculty-based judiciary to the administrative-level provost’s office.

Columbia also pledged to increase scrutiny of admission applications of foreign students and agreed to a federal review of its Middle Eastern studies program, which played a role in the pro-Palestinian campus protests.

“Columbia’s reforms are a roadmap for elite universities that wish to regain the confidence of the American public by renewing their commitment to truth-seeking, merit, and civil debate,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. “I believe they will ripple across the higher education sector and change the course of campus culture for years to come.”

Greene said the Columbia deal takes rule-making control out of the hands of faculty and administrative staff and returns it to the university’s president and board of trustees.

“It’s a pretty small price for what they needed to do and wanted to do,” he said. “They regained the reins from radical faculty.”

Other Deals

Brown University, which was investigated over racial and gender discrimination, agreed on July 30 to pay $50 million for state-level workforce development programs. The Rhode Island-based school also pledged to combat anti-Semitism and prohibit men from competing on women’s teams or using women’s facilities such as locker rooms, restrooms, or dorms.

On Aug. 1, Wagner College in New York City agreed to similar sanctions after acknowledging Title IX violations in allowing a male fencer to compete in women’s competitions. The investigation was initiated after his female opponent took a knee and forfeited. USA Fencing, which sponsored the April 14 event where this occurred, has also changed its policy.

Likewise, the University of Pennsylvania agreed to strip Lia Thomas, a male UPenn graduate who identified as transgender and was designated the winner of an NCAA women’s championship in 2022, of all awards and honors, and the school was required to send a letter of apology to every female swimmer who competed against him.

In every case, the schools faced millions of dollars in federal funding losses for noncompliance with civil rights law.

Cornell University did not respond to a request for comment on reports of an imminent $100 million settlement.

McMahon, during her Aug. 6 remarks at a Young America’s Foundation conference in Washington, said “other universities” might agree to terms similar to Columbia’s and Brown’s.

Zachary Marschall, editor-in-chief of the Leadership Institute’s Campus Reform publication, said talks between the federal government and university leadership likely exclude the professors, academic deans, and DEI staff who led hiring committees, controlled ideological instruction, and oversaw fundraising.

Civil rights violations became pervasive as university presidents remained mostly focused on their university’s bottom line and on pleasing “aloof” trustees who only visit the campus annually, he said. But complaints about DEI, anti-Semitism, Title IX violations, and anti-capitalism rhetoric eventually got their attention.

Although it took some time for university leadership to “understand and figure out what to do about” the complaints, Marschall told The Epoch Times, they now understand there are issues with faculty.

UCLA and Duke

The University of California–Los Angeles (UCLA) and Duke University are the latest institutions being scrutinized by the federal government. UCLA was cited for anti-Semitism, and the federal government suspended $584 million in research grants to the university. Duke’s law school and medical school are being investigated for alleged violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The federal government has referenced civil rights laws and the 2023 Supreme Court decision prohibiting racial considerations in college admissions in its actions against the schools.

Harvard University, which filed lawsuits against the federal government after the school was cited for DEI and anti-Semitism, has called the federal government’s actions unconstitutional and a violation of free speech.

Trump, who froze billions in aid to that school, said in a Truth Social post in late June that it was “very possible that a Deal will be announced over the next week or so.”

The Harvard Crimson reported on Aug. 3, citing faculty sources, that “a deal with the Trump administration is not imminent” and that the university is “seriously considering resolving its dispute with the White House through the courts rather than a negotiated settlement.”

Greene said he believes Harvard’s senior leadership is interested in a settlement but faces pressure from faculty members and alumni donors who encourage resistance.

Peter Wood, president of the National Association of Scholars, said that even Harvard, the nation’s wealthiest university with a $50 billion-plus endowment, cannot afford a long war with the federal government, which has authority to reject future funding grant applications, tax its endowment, limit student loans, and restrict visas to foreign students who are more likely to pay the full price of attendance.

Other schools across the nation, Wood added, can’t afford lawsuits as they’re struggling financially with declining enrollments as well as staff and program cuts.

“Something has gone wrong,” Wood told The Epoch Times. “It’s a complicated business right now.”

Staunch Opposition

Following Columbia’s settlement, the 45,000-member American Association of University Professors union decried the deal as “an unprecedented disaster” for academic freedom, freedom of speech, and the independence of American higher education.

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y), a Columbia alum, called the settlement “an embarrassing $200 million capitulation to the Trump administration’s repugnant extortion campaign,” and praised Harvard’s resistance in a July 23 statement.

Jon Fansmith, senior vice president of government relations at the American Council on Education, during the organization’s July 29 webcast said the executive branch is extorting money from highly selective institutions in blue states.

“I do think the administration has overplayed its hand and, publicly, this isn’t going the way they want it to go,” Fansmith said.

“There’s not an outcome they want here. What they want is a news cycle.”

What’s Ahead?

As the nation closely watches the federal government’s dispute with Harvard and other institutions, campus cultures might already be changing.

In one case, the Stand Columbia Society, a group of students, faculty, staff, and alumni, is leading a campaign to advocate for the Ivy League’s core mission and restore its global reputation.

Stand Columbia’s website notes that the university is still “significantly exposed” to civil rights violations because of its federal grant application guidelines, and acknowledges that under the recent settlement, the university community cannot foster a hostile educational environment.

Greene said academic resistance at Columbia and other elite universities will remain in place for a while because ideologies are so deeply embedded in those institutions, and it’s difficult to remove tenured professors. But new personnel across all functions of universities will have an easy time adapting to new regulations.

“The Biden era won’t be restored. People don’t like it across the board, so going back is a giant political loser for Democrats,” he said.

Marschall said he doesn’t think Harvard, regardless of how it fares in its lawsuits or negotiations with the White House, will influence other schools.

Depoliticizing campuses and promoting policies of institutional neutrality is better for business in these challenging times for colleges and universities, Marschall said.

“We’re seeing a huge culture shift in how we value higher education,” he said.