Northwestern University has agreed to a $75 million payout to the Trump administration to settle a discrimination investigation into the school and to restore federal funding that had been frozen throughout the inquest, the Justice Department announced on Friday.

“Today’s settlement marks another victory in the Trump Administration’s fight to ensure that American educational institutions protect Jewish students and put merit first,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.

“Institutions that accept federal funds are obligated to follow civil rights law — we are grateful to Northwestern for negotiating this historic deal.”

Northwestern is one of several schools ensnared in President Trump’s campaign against university policies he has decried as “woke.”

Specifically, the Illinois private school was one of 60 colleges the Education Department accused of shirking their obligations to “protect Jewish students on campus, including uninterrupted access to campus facilities and educational opportunities” amid heated university protests against the war in Gaza.

In April, the White House announced it was withholding some $790 million in federal funds from Northwestern while the government investigated the claims. University interim President Henry Bienen said in a statement to university personnel that “the payment is not an admission of guilt,” according to the school newspaper The Daily Northwestern.

Earlier this month, Cornell reached a deal requiring the university to pay $60 million to unfreeze $250 million withheld by the Trump administration over alleged civil rights violations. The private Ivy League university said the settlement did not come “at the cost of compromising our values or independence.”

Per the agreement, Northwestern will pay out the $75 million over time through 2028 and “shall maintain clear policies and procedures relating to demonstrations, protests, displays, and other expressive activities, as well as implement mandatory antisemitism training for all students, faculty, and staff,” according to the DOJ.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon called the settlement “a huge win” for higher education.

“The deal cements policy changes that ‘will protect students and other members of the campus from harassment and discrimination,’ and it recommits the school to merit-based hiring and admissions,” she said in a statement.

“The reforms reflect bold leadership at Northwestern, and they are a roadmap for institutional leaders around the country that will help rebuild public trust in our colleges and universities,” she added.

An explainer posted to the university’s website said that the school decided to negotiate an agreement rather than take a chance in court, calling the cost of a legal fight “too high and the risks too grave.”

Northwestern’s Bienen said in a video statement that the school would retain its academic freedom and autonomy from the federal government.

“There were several red lines that I, the board of Trustees and university leadership refused to cross. I would not have signed anything that would have given the federal government any say in who we hire, what they teach, who we admit or what they study,” Bienen said.

“Put simply, Northwestern runs Northwestern.”

Intense solar radiation has exposed a critical vulnerability in Airbus A320 family aircraft software, leading to the grounding of thousands of planes worldwide until fixes are applied, marking the largest recalls affecting the company in its 55-year history.

The issue affects the Elevator Aileron Computer (ELAC B) with software version L104, which calculates elevation and controls flight surfaces, causing potential data corruption at high altitudes during solar flares.

This prompted the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to issue an Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) on November 28, 2025, mandating repairs before passenger flights resume.

WHAT HAPPENED?

The problem surfaced during a JetBlue Airways A320 flight (B6-1230) from Cancun to Newark on October 30, when the plane experienced an uncommanded pitch-down at 35,000 feet, injuring at least 15 passengers and forcing an emergency landing in Tampa, Florida.

Airbus’s investigation linked the sudden altitude loss, brief but severe enough to exceed normal limits, to solar radiation corrupting ELAC data, though the autopilot corrected the trajectory.

This marked the only known incident, but analysis revealed broader risks across A320ceo and A320neo variants.

FLY-BY-WIRE VULNERABILITY

A320 family planes pioneered “fly-by-wire” technology, where cockpit controls send electronic signals processed by computers like the ELAC to adjust elevators and ailerons, eliminating mechanical linkages for efficiency and safety.

Solar flares, intense bursts of charged particles from the sun travelling at light speed, can penetrate aircraft electronics at cruising altitudes, flipping bits in memory and corrupting elevation calculations in vulnerable L104 software.

In the worst cases, uncorrected faults could trigger uncommanded elevator movements, risking structural damages.

FIXES AND GLOBAL IMPACT

Airlines must revert ELAC software to L103 or replace the hardware, a process taking about three hours per plane, before the next revenue flight; passenger-free “ferry flights” (up to three cycles) allow relocation to maintenance sites.

Roughly 6,000 aircraft, nearly half Airbus’s single-aisle fleet, are affected, impacting carriers like American Airlines, Delta, and IndiGo, with disruptions during peak holiday travel.

Airbus and EASA prioritise safety, apologising for delays while coordinating rapid implementation.

BROADER AVIATION RISKS

Solar activity peaks every 11 years, with the current cycle heightening radiation events that already disrupt high-altitude communications; this flaw underscores growing dependencies on radiation-hardened avionics amid climate-driven space weather monitoring needs.

Future mitigations may include shielded processors or real-time solar alerts, but immediate groundings prevent repeats.

Global regulators echo the urgency, ensuring no passenger flights until verified safe.

– Ends