"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."
https://www.theamericansaga.com/p/if-elite-universities-really-oppose