The U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Education, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced an agreement with Cornell University that will protect Cornell’s students from violations of federal civil rights laws, including discrimination based on race, sex, or national origin, and promote America’s hardworking farming and rural communities.
Cornell University will invest $30 million through 2028 in research programs on agriculture, farming, and related studies that will support American farmers through lower costs of production and enhanced efficiency.
Cornell will additionally pay $30 million to the United States over the next three years.
The university agrees to provide the Department of Justice’s “Guidance for Recipients of Federal Funding Regarding Unlawful Discrimination” as a training resource to faculty and staff, and will continue to conduct annual surveys to evaluate the campus climate for Cornell students. The university also agrees to comply with lawful requests from the United States related to foreign funding sources.
“Recipients of federal funding must fully adhere to federal civil rights laws and ensure that harmful DEI policies do not discriminate against students,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Today’s deal is a positive outcome that illustrates the value of universities working with this administration — we are grateful to Cornell for working towards this agreement.”
Through 2028, Cornell will provide relevant anonymized admissions data for statistical analyses to the United States. The President of Cornell will personally certify, under penalty of perjury, that Cornell complies with the agreement.
“The Trump Administration has secured another transformative commitment from an Ivy League institution to end divisive DEl policies,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “Thanks to this deal with Cornell and the ongoing work of DOJ, HHS, and the team at ED, U.S. universities are refocusing their attention on merit, rigor, and truth seeking – not ideology. These reforms are a huge win in the fight to restore excellence to American higher education and make our schools the greatest in the world.”
The United States will close its pending investigations into the university’s admissions policies and other civil rights concerns. "The Trump Administration is actively dismantling the ability of elite universities to discriminate based on race or religion," said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "The DOJ’s agreement with Cornell strengthens protections for students against antisemitism and all other forms of discrimination."
The United States shall treat Cornell as eligible for future grants and awards, as well as restore terminated grants to Cornell from the Department of Health & Human Services and other federal agencies.
“As a result of securing this groundbreaking settlement between the United States and Cornell, applicants and students will receive fair and equal treatment as required by our civil rights laws, and American farmers will have expanded opportunity for agricultural development and productivity,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Cornell agreement exhibits this administration’s deep commitment to vigilantly enforce our federal civil rights laws on college campuses, and ensure that American universities manage taxpayer dollars responsibly.”
Cornell President Michael I. Kotlikoff welcomed the agreement.
“The decades-long research partnership between Cornell and the federal government is critical to advancing the university’s core mission and to our continuing contributions to the nation’s health, welfare, and economic and military strength,” Kotlikoff said in a statement. “This agreement revives that partnership, while affirming the university’s commitment to the principles of academic freedom, independence, and institutional autonomy that, from our founding, have been integral to our excellence.”
The government has further agreed to restore terminated federal grants, release all withheld funds for active grants, and consider Cornell fully eligible for new grants and funding awards, without disadvantage or preference.
The resolution says that Cornell’s agreement to these terms is not an admission of wrongdoing.