The day the email was sent out about Northwestern striking a deal with the Trump administration, I was talking with my friend about whether morality is objective or subjective. As a debate enthusiast, I argued that I find the world and humans to be too gray to be seen through a black and white lens, that there is nuance when choices are made.

But the second I got that email, I saw the flaws in my argument: What NU did is morally and objectively wrong.

Fast forward finals and winter break, and the deal is still wrong. I have a list of grievances: cooperation with federal law enforcement, censorship of free speech, annihilation of the encampment agreement made in the wake of the 2024 pro-Palestinian encampment of Deering Meadow, restrictions regarding transgender members of the NU community, the creation of new barriers of entry for international students, the elimination of almost all Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives on campus  — the list goes on.

It’s been months since the school signed its morals away. So why are we bringing this up now?

As students, we continue to find ourselves appalled by the deal. That the timing was meant to silence us, render us apathetic to what should have led to outcry and outrage across this campus.

The deal was announced on the day after Thanksgiving, a week before finals and Winter Break. Wasn’t the timing interesting?

I hate the silence. I hate how numb we’ve become. I hate this deal.

Not only does this agreement violate the civil liberties of almost every minority group at NU, but it transforms this school from a place where students like us are supposed to learn into a state actor that complies with whatever the government deems to be true.

Freedom of thought and the freedom to learn are not as free anymore. Administrators sacrificed our priceless freedom for the price of frozen funds that we were already entitled to, alongside our $14 billion endowment.

Unlike Harvard University, Georgetown University, University of Southern California and other schools across the country that took a stand against the administration, NU stood with the Trump administration. And that is deeply terrifying because we saw an example of what was right and chose to turn the other way.

Many people called the University spineless after this deal. The school isn’t spineless, rather it is masterfully breaking its own spine because it thinks that with enough money, any broken bone can be repaired.

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I entered NU in 2024, a year marked by nationwide campus demonstrations against the Israeli bombardment of Gaza and administrative repression of said protests at universities, including NU.

The student protests prompted bipartisan antisemitism investigations from the federal government, in part to silence pro-Palestine activism.

Following his inauguration in January 2025, President Trump made it a focus of his administration to pressure universities into compliance with the conservative movement’s vision for higher education. To do so, the Trump administration weaponized federal funding, suspending $790 million to NU and similar high amounts to peer universities.

Trump forced institutions to choose between their independence and hundreds of millions of dollars in research support, all under the premise of rampant antisemitism on college campuses,  which, of course, included any speech in support of Palestinian liberation or against Israel’s horrific bombing and starvation campaign in Gaza.

Some may claim this deal to be a victory. We got our money back, and research — a pillar holding up our prestige — can be invested in once again. But in “resolving” investigations, NU accepted a binding, federally-enforced regime that locks in policies the University cannot change without the Trump administration’s approval.

It created an environment where transgender students feel significantly less safe; important research on DEI topics is impacted; and the right to protest on campus — already under repression — is all but done away with.

What makes this so frustrating is that NU had alternatives. Other universities challenged the Trump administration in court and won. In April 2025, a federal judge blocked Trump’s withholding of $2.2 billion from Harvard, as it was an unlawful retaliation for protected speech and a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.

The money is important, but in accepting this agreement, NU signaled to the White House that any future federal pressure will go uncontested so long as funding is the bait. The University showed the federal government that it can be coerced, that its commitments to academic freedom and student rights are negotiable and that political pressure works.

Elsewhere, we see examples of principled opposition to fascism in Minnesota. There, tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets for days on end in frigid temperatures to demand that the federal government end the occupation of Minneapolis and Saint Paul and to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The grassroots movement in Minnesota lies in stark contrast to NU laying out the welcome mat for Trump, and serves as a reminder that good people can have an immensely positive impact when they work collectively.

Minnesota may seem only tangentially related to the issue, but it is part of a broader movement to unmake the structures of America in the image of right-wing ideology: a Christian nationalist, white supremacist, patriarchal nation.

NU can feel the energy: We saw it in the show of solidarity at The Arch on Friday amid a day of national anti-ICE protests. I was glad to see such activism, especially considering how quiet our campus has been in the past year. As students, it is our responsibility to be stewards of the world we want to see, and to urge our institutions to work for us. NU students know what to do.

Mintesinot Sturm is a Medill sophomore. He can be contacted at [email protected]. Ereny Tanious is a SESP and Medill sophomore. She can be contacted at [email protected]. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.