Federal actions have already taken place against Ivy League schools Columbia and Harvard over harassment of Jewish students.
The Trump administration has suspended several dozen federally funded research grants to Princeton University as part of its investigation into campus anti-Semitism, according to a Princeton University email published by the Daily Princetonian student newspaper.
The email, dated April 1 and sent to the campus community by university President Christopher Eisgruber, said the university received the notification from the funding agencies, including the Departments of Energy, Defense, and NASA.
Eisgruber’s email did not disclose the amount of money in question.
“The full rationale for this action is not yet clear, but I want to be clear about the principles that will guide our response,” Eisgruber’s email said.
“Princeton University will comply with the law. We are committed to fighting anti-Semitism and all forms of discrimination, and we will cooperate with the government in combating anti-Semitism.
“Princeton will also vigorously defend academic freedom and the due process rights of this university.”
Eisgruber’s email said more information would be released following conversations with affected faculty, researchers, and grant managers.
Princeton is among the 60 elite higher education institutions currently under federal investigation for the harassment of Jewish students following Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Eisgruber and his colleagues from fellow Ivy League institutions—Harvard, Columbia, Brown, Cornell, and Yale—were among those who received March 10 letters from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
The letter reminded university presidents of existing Civil Rights laws. It noted President Donald Trump’s executive order that states colleges and universities risk the loss of federal funding if they fail to combat campus anti-Semitism.
“The Department is deeply disappointed that Jewish students studying on elite U.S. campuses continue to fear for their safety amid the relentless antisemitic eruptions that have severely disrupted campus life for more than a year. University leaders must do better,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a March 10 statement from the Education Department announcing the letters sent to universities. “U.S. colleges and universities benefit from enormous public investments funded by U.S. taxpayers. That support is a privilege and it is contingent on scrupulous adherence to federal antidiscrimination laws.”
The Trump administration announced on March 31 that it is examining $8.7 billion in contracts with Harvard.
