In the 1940s two congeries of events brought the federal government into the field of education, an area that had previously been protected from federal interference. At the core of one group of events was a 1937 decision that the "general welfare clause" was established as an independent ground for the federal spending power. A second change came out of law that recognized that there were rights that might be asserted against the academy by individuals. Now, because the federal government supplies funds to universities it feels able to control them. This proposition is--or should be--inapplicable. The position that the conditions on government grants are invalid has support in Supreme Court decisions. It has been found that the state may not compel the surrender of constitutional rights as a condition of its favor. Universities should face up to the illegal demands that threaten the destruction of the independence of the academy. (Author/IRT)