By COLLIN BINKLEY, AP Training Author
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has halted dozens of analysis grants at Princeton College, the most recent Ivy League college to see its federal cash threatened in a stress marketing campaign focusing on the nation’s prime universities.
Princeton was notified this week that a number of dozen federal grants are being suspended by businesses together with the Division of Power, NASA and the Protection Division, based on a campus message despatched Tuesday by Christopher Eisgruber, the college’s president.
Eisgruber mentioned the rationale was not absolutely clear however that Princeton will adjust to the legislation. The varsity is amongst dozens dealing with federal investigations into antisemitism following a wave of pro-Palestinian protests final 12 months.
“We are committed to fighting antisemitism and all forms of discrimination, and we will cooperate with the government in combating antisemitism,” Eisgruber wrote. “Princeton will also vigorously defend academic freedom and the due process rights of this University.”
As President Donald Trump presses his political agenda on universities throughout the nation, he has paid particular consideration to Ivy League establishments.
Columbia College was the primary one focused, dropping $400 million in federal cash with threats to terminate extra if it didn’t make the campus safer for Jewish college students. The varsity agreed to a number of calls for from the federal government final month, together with an overhaul of scholar self-discipline guidelines and a evaluate of the varsity’s Center East research division.
The federal government later suspended about $175 million in federal funding for the College of Pennsylvania over a transgender swimmer who beforehand competed for the varsity. On Monday, a federal antisemitism activity drive mentioned it was reviewing nearly $9 billion in federal grants and contracts at Harvard College amid an investigation into campus antisemitism.
The stress has created a dilemma for U.S. schools, which depend on federal analysis funding as a significant income.
Eisgruber got here ahead as a voice of opposition because the Trump administration ratcheted up stress on Columbia, calling it the best menace to American universities in many years.
“The attack on Columbia is a radical threat to scholarly excellence and to America’s leadership in research,” Eisgruber wrote in a March 19 essay in The Atlantic journal. “Universities and their leaders should speak up and litigate forcefully to protect their rights.”
The Power Division confirmed it had paused funding to Princeton pending a Division of Training investigation round antisemitic harassment. The Training and Justice departments declined to remark.
Princeton was amongst 60 universities that obtained a warning letter from the Training Division in March over accusations of antisemitism. It mentioned the faculties might face enforcement motion in the event that they didn’t deal with anti-Jewish bias on campus. All however two Ivy League colleges, Penn and Dartmouth, had been on the checklist.
The outlet’s editor has filed dozens of different antisemitism complaints with the Training Division.
The Trump administration has promised a extra aggressive strategy in opposition to campus antisemitism, accusing former President Joe Biden of letting colleges off the hook. It has opened new investigations at schools and detained and deported a number of overseas college students with ties to pro-Palestinian protests.
Trump and different officers have accused the protesters of being “pro-Hamas.” Pupil activists say they oppose Israel’s navy exercise in Gaza.
It follows a marketing campaign by Republican in Congress who demanded solutions from college leaders after the wave of protests. A sequence of hearings on Capitol Hill contributed to the resignation of presidents at Harvard, Columbia and Penn.
Columbia’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong, resigned final week after the varsity agreed to the federal government’s calls for.
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Initially Revealed: April 1, 2025 at 1:38 PM EDT