If Elite Universities Really Oppose Trump's Crackdowns, They Should Put Their Money Where Their Mouths Are

Massive endowments mean that universities could theoretically weather the administration.

Photo by Lachlan on Unsplash

Earlier this week, the Trump administration announced that it would be suspending $175 million in federal funds to the University of Pennsylvania.

The reason?

The administration is charging that the school has violated President Trump’s executive order relating to transgender athletes (it is Trump’s view and the view of most American adults that transgender women should not be competing alongside biological women.)

The school is the location where Lia Thomas, who was a biological man who transitioned and became a woman, won Division I title as part of the school’s women’s swimming team. That was in 2022, the same year that Thomas graduated.

Presumably, the administration is trying to send a message to Penn, just as it sent a message to Columbia University — where it withheld hundreds of millions of dollars in grants over complaints about Israel/Palestine-related protests. They want these colleges and universities to endorse the Trump administration’s view on these issues.

This puts these schools in a bind. For years, they have portrayed themselves as being on the cutting-edge of progressive social and cultural issues. If they give in to the Trump administration, they could see a return of this funding. Columbia already suggested that it may cave:

Columbia University signaled Wednesday that it would comply with the Trump administration's demands in return for restoring $400 million in federal funding, saying it would "engage in constructive dialogue with our federal regulators."

If this becomes a pattern — the Trump administration threatens to withhold funding to institutions that don’t match its position on culture war issues — this would speak volumes about the state of America’s colleges and universities. They say they’re graduating irreverent rebels who are ready to change society. Yet they’re willing to bend to the will of the president?

One way for universities to stand on principle would be to tap into their endowments. Elite colleges are sitting on massive pots of money.

In Penn’s case, that endowment is about $22 billion.

In Columbia’s case, that endowment is nearly $15 billion.

These funds could easily be used to buttress any federal funding that the administration is using as leverage over these schools. They don’t have to simply comply. They have more than enough money to weather the storm for four years.

Does that mean that there are no legitimate debates about transgender athletes or protests over the Middle East conflict? Absolutely not. I think both of these highly contentious issues have plenty of nuance to them.

But if these colleges and universities decide to let the threat of federal funding decide these debates for them, it would prove that they’re far from the bold, reformist institutions they portray themselves as. They’re just a bunch of conformists, worried about their prestige and paychecks, after all.