I have been reflecting on the recent funding cuts to universities by the Trump administration, including $1 billion for Cornell University, $790 million for Northwestern University, and $9 billion for Harvard. The cancellation of basic research projects will greatly reduce America’s position in the accelerating global technical race. Faced with funding cuts, programs will be shelved, researchers will move to other countries, and corporate and nonprofit institutions will be deprived of the benefits of university research in their applied product development.
I earned my degrees in engineering and business from Cornell University. It is an amazing institution, where a strong culture was established by the founders, Andrew Dickson White and Ezra Cornell, in 1865. At Cornell any person can find an education in any subject in a combined private/public university. And there is a long-time culture of collaboration, what Cornell calls “radical collaboration.”
Cornell’s motto is “Freedom with Responsibility.” This concept is at the heart of an essential management insight, that respect and trust for your people is the foundation of all good management, in both the public and the private sectors.
The situation reminds me of several other leadership principles that I’ve emphasized throughout my career.
Leadership requires developing “court sense” — the ability to perceive what’s happening in your environment and adjust accordingly. The presidents of many American universities are facing profound challenges that demand this awareness. They must recognize reality, even when it’s extremely uncomfortable, as it is now.
I’ve always said that “bad news is good news if you do something about it.” What matters now is how these institutional leaders respond. Will they acknowledge problems directly? Will they implement meaningful changes while preserving their core values and mission?
In the face of existential threats, priorities become clear. These universities must focus on what’s most important —their people, their purpose, and their capacity to fulfill their mission. This requires making difficult decisions with incomplete information.
Organizations reveal their true culture in times of crisis. Those with strong foundations of trust, clear values, and agile leadership will weather this storm more effectively than those without these assets.
Columbia’s decision was to comply with administration demands, while Princeton has taken a different approach, demonstrating that there’s no single path forward. These institutions now face an opportunity to demonstrate what effective crisis leadership looks like: clear communication, decisive action, and unwavering commitment to mission.
Cornell University president, Michael Kotlikoff, said it well in a recent guest essay in the New York Times. “If we are to preserve our value and our meaning, we cannot let our caution overtake our purpose,” he wrote. “Our colleges and universities are cradles of democracy and bulwarks against autocracy. Only by defending democratic values and norms and educating our students to carry them forward in all their complexity and challenge will we safeguard the future of our institutions — and our nation.”