The Trump administration has just announced a freeze of over $1 billion in federal funding to Cornell University amid ongoing civil rights investigations.

This action affects critical grants and contracts from departments such as Defense, Agriculture, Education, and Health and Human Services, jeopardizing vital research in national defense, cybersecurity, and health at the University.

"Earlier today Cornell received more than 75 stop work orders from the Department of Defense related to research that is profoundly significant to American national defense, cybersecurity, and health", reads the statement from the University.

"We are actively seeking information from federal officials to learn more about the basis for these decisions."

This funding freeze is part of a broader pattern where the administration has targeted multiple universities, including Columbia, Harvard, and Princeton, with similar actions. These measures raise serious concerns about academic freedom and the potential politicization of federal funding.

We call upon the Trump administration to immediately lift the funding freeze on Cornell University.

Academic institutions must remain spaces for open inquiry and research without the threat of political interference.

Stand with Cornell!