Northwestern hit with 100 stop-work orders for federal projects
Northwestern University said researchers with federal grants received 100 stop-work orders, hitting projects in areas including medicine and engineering.
The Trump administration signaled earlier this week it had paused $790 million of funds to Northwestern, and more than $1 billion to Cornell University, because of potential civil rights violations.
Northwestern said it hasn’t received official word of a “large-scale freeze or rationale,” but the affected grants include research into wearable devices, robotics, nanotechnology, foreign military training, Parkinson’s disease and “many other critical research programs supporting our nation,” Northwestern President Michael Schill and other administrators said in a letter Thursday. Cornell has said the Defense Department sent 75 stop-work orders.
President Donald Trump has targeted elite colleges including Harvard, Columbia and Princeton for their handling of antisemitism after student protests roiled campuses following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel and the Jewish state’s retaliatory response in Gaza. The crackdown has fueled concerns among faculty and students that the government is using accusations of antisemitism to suppress free speech and academic freedom, while risking damage to research and innovation.
A joint federal task force said it would visit 10 schools, including Northwestern, Columbia and Harvard, to investigate separate incidents of alleged antisemitism. Northwestern and Cornell are both also among 60 schools the Education Department warned of potential enforcement actions if they don’t fulfill their obligation to protect Jewish students.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth cited Northwestern and Cornell in a video Thursday where he discussed $5 billion in cuts at the Defense Department.
The Defense Department is pausing more than $500 million to the schools, “in support of the president’s priorities to stop federal funding for academic institutions that tolerate antisemitism and support divisive DEI programs,” Hegseth said in the video, referring to diversity, equity and inclusion.
The Trump administration has canceled $400 million in funding for Columbia and threatened $9 billion in grants and contracts at Harvard. Princeton said dozens of research grants have been suspended.