Cornell University agreed to conduct “annual surveys to evaluate the campus climate for students, including the climate for students with shared Jewish ancestry” as part of an agreement it reached with the Trump administration on Friday. 

The settlement will restore more than $250 million in federal funding that was cut from the Ivy League school earlier this year, over allegations that it failed to address campus antisemitism. The annual surveys will “ask students whether they feel welcome at Cornell; whether they feel safe reporting antisemitism at Cornell; and whether they believe the changes Cornell has made since October 2023 have benefited the Cornell community.” 

The federal government concluded that Cornell is not in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and has closed the relevant investigations.

“I am pleased that our good faith discussions with the White House, Department of Justice, and Department of Education have concluded with an agreement that acknowledges the government’s commitment to enforce existing anti-discrimination law, while protecting our academic freedom and institutional independence,” Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff told Jewish Insider on Friday. “These discussions have now yielded a result that will enable us to return to our teaching and research in restored partnership with federal agencies.”

Under the terms of the settlement, in which Cornell agreed to pay $60 million — half to the government and the other $30 million toward research that will support U.S. farmers — the university must also ensure it is in compliance with government civil rights laws and provide admissions data to the government to ensure race is not considered a factor in admissions. 

The settlement includes a provision stating that the university and government both “affirm the importance of and their support for academic freedom.” It also said that no part of the settlement could be “construed as giving the United States authority to dictate the content of academic speech or curricula.”

Menachem Rosensaft, an adjunct professor of law at Cornell Law School who teaches about antisemitism in the courts, called the settlement a “significant victory for Cornell.”

“It is proof that the Cornell administration under President Kotlikoff has in fact been doing — and is doing — everything in its power, and everything that is appropriate within the restraints posed by academic freedom, to protect its Jewish students, faculty and staff against any type of antisemitic discrimination, just as it is protecting all members of the Cornell community from Title VI or Title IX based discrimination,” Rosensaft told JI. 

“Of course there remains work to be done to fight against antisemitic manifestations at Cornell, just as there is at virtually every university and college in this country. But the settlement is proof that Kotlikoff and his administration are fully invested and engaged in this fight.”

The six-page agreement comes weeks after a similar one was signed by the University of Virginia; however, the Charlottesville campus’ settlement did not explicitly address Jewish students. Columbia University, Brown University and the University of Pennsylvania also cut deals with the government earlier this year. The Trump administration is still reportedly in talks to reach agreements with Harvard University and the University of California. 

The move from Cornell comes as its graduate student union is considering a BDS resolution that accuses Jewish students of “weaponizing antisemitism” and blames labor disputes on “Zionist interests” — where, unlike many other unions, dues are mandatory.

In the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks in Israel, Cornell made headlines for several high-profile incidents. Those included a student’s online threats to shoot Jewish students at the kosher dining hall — and, following a leave of absence, the return to campus earlier this year of Russell Rickford, an associate professor of history who called Oct. 7 “exhilarating” and “energizing.”

Cornell’s former president, Martha Pollack, issued a set of recommendations aimed at countering antisemitism in May 2024. Pollack resigned in July 2024, citing “enormous, unexpected challenges” on campus amid the Israel-Hamas war.