Northwestern University reached a $75 million agreement with the Trump administration to regain access to roughly $790 million in federal research funds, and the settlement imposes new restrictions on admissions narratives, on-campus demonstrations, and displays, university records show. The deal bars use of personal statements referencing racial identity to justify admissions decisions and narrows permitted protest zones; it also cancels prior accommodations for pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Legal and faculty leaders immediately flagged constitutional and governance risks. Northwestern interim president Henry Bienen defended the pact as preserving institutional autonomy; constitutional law scholars and alumni such as Stephen Rohde called it a severe curtailment of academic independence. Northwestern law professor Heidi Kitrosser warned the arrangement raises First Amendment questions about conditioning federal research dollars on speech rules. For campus leaders and counsel, the settlement creates a new compliance burden: university officials must now certify ongoing adherence to terms tied directly to federal funding. Administrators at other research universities will likely reassess protest policies, admissions practices, and communications with federal investigators in light of the precedent set here.