Princeton president vows not to cave to Trump, yet acknowledges antisemitism on campus
Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber recently told a New York Times reporter he identified "serious problems" with antisemitism on Columbia University's campus and even his own. But he noted it is "not appropriate" for the government to use its funding power to change the way universities conduct their research, teaching or admissions.
Eisgruber sat down Wednesday with "The Daily" podcast host Rachel Abrams to discuss research funding freezes and antisemitism on university campuses.
Colleges and universities nationwide have expressed concern about President Donald Trump investigating schools for alleged antisemitic discrimination and harassment, slashing federal funding for those that seemingly allowed on-campus anti-Israel protests since the Hamas-led attack on Israel Oct. 7, 2023.
One of those schools was Columbia University, which changed its protest policies, expanded its Jewish studies program, placed the school's Middle Eastern studies program under new supervision and altered student disciplinary procedures to avoid losing $400 million in federal funding.
"We began to see precipitous threats to funding streams early on in the new presidential administration," Eisgruber told Abrams.
"Then a couple of weeks ago, something happened at Columbia that introduced a new, and, in my view, very dangerous element to this, which is that the government came in, and without any due process or any apparent investigation, said … 'We're going to take away a bunch of your grants … and we're not going to restore them to you unless you do things like admissions reform.'"
Eisgruber discussed the importance of "academic freedom" before Abrams asked about the validity of the administration's concerns about antisemitism on college campuses.
Eisgruber acknowledged there "were some serious problems with antisemitism on that campus" and said standing against antisemitism is "a fundamental responsibility for any university president and for any university," but he accused the government of neglecting due process.
"They should be allowing universities to respond and offer their side of the story," he said. "And then they should be putting in place, if they find that there are violations, appropriate remedies that are tailored to the violations and to the law."
They had the discussion as rumors swirled about the Trump administration pursuing a legal arrangement, or consent decree, that would order Columbia University to comply with executive directives on antisemitism from Trump.
Under former President Joe Biden, multiple universities, including Brown and Rutgers, signed similar decrees over antisemitism concerns after the Hamas terrorist attack in Israeli, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Yet, when Abrams asked if Eisgruber would cave if Trump said he would cut funding unless a specific department was placed under academic receivership, he said he would not make concessions.
"We would not do that," he said. "We believe that would be unlawful, and we would contest that in court. … I really think we all need to be speaking up right now."
The episode was released one day after news broke that the Trump administration had cut $4 million in funding related to climate research for Princeton University.
Princeton received $455 million in federal funding during fiscal year 2024, which includes funding for the Department of Energy national laboratory, which it operates for the government.
"It's important for me to be using my voice, and it's why, in response to a number of your questions, I've said, 'Hey, I can tell you about what's going on at Princeton, but I don't think this is all about Princeton. It's about what's happening in the United States,'" Eisgruber said. "I think this would be so much stronger if many more of my fellow presidents were speaking up.
"America's universities [are] under threat."
Eisgruber said the policy changes are a "crisis for our country."
And he remained adamant throughout the podcast that universities should not reflect the political ideology of the country.
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