Northwestern's Complicity With the Trump Regime

"Last week, Northwestern University officials betrayed their campus and reached an agreement with the Trump administration, paying $75 million to gain access to nearly a billion dollars in research funds illegally and immorally seized by a regime of antisemites and their apologists who mockingly pretend to care about protecting Jewish students from antisemitism. Along with the massive extortion payment came a long list of often bizarre demands that NU has agreed to."

"It is common to describe these agreements as a surrender to the Trump regime, but it's actually much worse. This isn't capitulation; it's collaboration. This is complicity, not compulsion. Northwestern officials made an agreement with the Trump administration, not because they were forced to, but because they wanted to do it. Even after Harvard won the lawsuits it (and the American Association of University Professors) filed against the Trump regime and had its funding restored, Northwestern officials refused to file a lawsuit. Why wouldn't a university try to get its money restored, if only to improve its negotiating position? Bowing down before the Trump administration only makes sense as a strategy when both sides share the same goals. These agreements allow administrators to impose tighter controls over almost every aspect of campus life."

"In October, Northwestern faculty voted 595 to 4 against "any capitulation on the part of Northwestern University to these or similar demands that undermine constitutional rights, democratic principles, faculty governance, institutional autonomy, and academic freedom." While these Trump agreements are deeply unpopular with students, faculty and most alumni, many wealthy donors and trustees applaud them-and that's whom top administrators work for."

Northwestern University officials paid $75 million to regain access to nearly a billion dollars in research funds seized by the Trump administration. The payment accompanied a long list of demands that expand administrative control over campus life. Administrators negotiated the agreement willingly rather than under coercion, signaling collaboration with the Trump administration. Harvard and the American Association of University Professors sued and had funding restored, but Northwestern declined to file suit. Faculty voted 595 to 4 against any capitulation to demands that undermine constitutional rights, faculty governance, institutional autonomy, and academic freedom. Wealthy donors and trustees supported the agreements, aligning administrators with top benefactors.

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