Legal concerns over the freezing of over $1 billion in federal research funding at Cornell have escalated, with Prof. Michael Dorf, law, calling the actions "illegal" for bypassing statutory due process protections in the ongoing civil rights investigation.
Following the funding freeze, a Trump administration official confirmed to CNN that the pause was undertaken in connection with “several ongoing, credible, and concerning Title VI investigations.”
Currently, there are at least two Title VI investigations into Cornell. In November 2023, the U.S Department of Education announced that Cornell was being investigated for potential violations of Title VI, related to reports of antisemitic or anti-Muslim harassment. This came after Cornell received national attention twice: when Prof. Russell Rickford, history, called the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel “exhilarating” and when Patrick Dai ’24 posted antisemitic threats to Jewish students in an online chatboard.
The ED announced another Title VI investigation on March 14 for Cornell and 44 other schools' relationship with The Ph.D. Project — a small project that helps students seeking business school degrees, but “limits eligibility based on the race of participants,” according to the ED.
Dorf has openly criticized the Trump administration’s actions, saying at a Thursday rally for academic freedom, that “the Trump administration has complied with zero requirements.”
Referencing his article for The Chronicle of Higher Education, Dorf explained that federal law requires a thorough, program-specific review of any alleged civil rights violations before funding can be cut.
Title 42, Section 2000-d-1 of Title VI mandates that recipients be granted a hearing, limits cuts to the specific program found to be noncompliant and allows for voluntary correction before any funding is withdrawn. It also requires agencies to notify Congress and wait at least 30 days before taking action.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbids discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin in any program or activity that receives federal funding. A Title VI investigation is an examination by the ED of whether an entity receiving federal funding has engaged in such discrimination.
“If there were a thorough investigation and it concluded that the University had not done its part to combat antisemitism — or any other kind of illicit bias — that would be perfectly permissible,” Dorf said. “In that case, the federal government would be required to ensure the University complies with civil rights obligations.”
Dorf argued that the problem with the Trump administration’s actions is that they are not following proper procedures and that they “mistakenly” view a lot of protected student speech as tolerating antisemitism.
“I say that as a Jewish faculty member, and I am appalled by the government’s pretextual use of antisemitism,” Dorf said.
Cornell was also one of 60 universities sent letters from the ED on March 10, warning that they would see enforcement actions should they not “fulfill their obligations … to protect Jewish students on campus.”
Dorf also voiced concern about what he views as a deeper motive behind the Trump administration's actions, suggesting it is part of “an effort to destroy higher education.” He highlighted how politicians in the Trump administration, like Vice President J.D. Vance, view universities as “bastions of liberal thought.”
Additionally, Dorf offered a possible explanation for why Trump might be focusing on elite universities.
“One possibility is that he wants to make an example,” he said. “If he can do it to the most powerful universities, that will make everybody else afraid, and they’ll preemptively comply.”
He added that the move may also appeal to a populist base. “It strikes an anti-elite tone, which is a sort of standard populist move,” Dorf said, noting the irony that “Trump himself will boast about the fact that he went to Wharton or that his uncle was a professor at [the Massachusetts Institute of Technology].”
