Disclaimer: The Observer obtained conflicting statements regarding what was said during the Jan. 27 Faculty Senate meeting and cannot confirm the factuality of the meeting’s content.

In his first day in office on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump signed a flurry of executive orders, ranging in topics from national security to the federal civil service. While many may assume these executive orders are inconsequential to the operations of Case Western Reserve University, many higher education advocacy groups have advised universities across the country to diligently prepare for the second Trump administration. 

On Jan. 27, in response to questions asked by The Observer, the university stated, “Case Western Reserve has a team analyzing the Trump administration’s Executive Orders to determine their impact on the university—both its operations and, most importantly, its people. Right now, much is in flux, and when the university has clarity, we will share information with our community.” 

Before Trump’s inauguration, Marin K. Ritter, director of the VISA Office, sent out an email to international students that recommended they “Plan to return to the United States before the new administration is sworn in on Jan. 20, 2025.” 

President Eric Kaler released an email on Jan. 28 regarding the fiscal impacts that Trump’s administration has on the university. The contents of the email focused on an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memo signed the evening of Jan. 27 which froze most federal aid and grant programs across the country, including money to private universities. The memo reads that the “temporary pause” is necessary in order for federal agencies to determine “the best uses of funding for those programs consistent with the law and the President’s priorities,” calling for an increase in the efficacy of government operations. 

Many were outraged by the overarching order. Democratic Rep. Shontel Brown, whose district includes all of the City of Cleveland and CWRU, blasted the memo as “lawless, reckless, and clearly unconstitutional,” noting the impact this could have on Northeast Ohio.

At the same time, many in the university community were caught off guard by the sudden change. “It is unclear what the full scope of this memo is as well as its legality,” wrote Kaler in his email. “However, we believe it could have a considerable impact on our current and pending federal funding.” The funding freeze in question was recently stayed by a federal judge in Washington, and as of Jan. 29, the memo was rescinded by OMB, though many other executive orders regarding the allocation of federal funds remain. 

During Jan. 28’s Undergraduate Student Government General Assembly meeting, third-year student and Vice President of Academic Affairs Kevin Arndt gave a presentation about the Jan. 27 Faculty Senate meeting which addressed these concerns. He summarized Kaler’s Faculty Senate statements regarding the impacts of the Trump administration. Arndt started by mentioning the impacts to research funding, noting how at least $16 million is immediately in jeopardy. According to publicly available data, CWRU received $261.8 million from the federal government during the last fiscal year, just under 83% of which came from the Department of Health and Human Services. 

While discussing the Jan. 27 meeting, Arndt highlighted measures against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), which the OMB memo directly called out as an example of unwanted spending. He said that the university removed mentions of DEI from “all university job postings as well as graduate programs.” The university said that during the Faculty Senate meeting “President Kaler noted that we don’t have DEI statements as part of the faculty job application process, and it is not its own category in the promotion and tenure process.” 

This is in addition to statewide efforts to regulate DEI programs within higher education in Ohio. Arndt acknowledged these regulation efforts may resurface through the recently reintroduced Senate Bill 1, previously Senate Bill 83, on Jan. 22. 

While Arndt detailed that the Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusive Engagement may be renamed, the university is preparing to make “emergency overhauls” to other offices, such as the LGBT Center and the Flora Stone Mather Center for Women in accordance with Trump’s agenda. In a written comment to The Observer, the university denied that any changes will be made regarding the LGBT Center.

The final part of Arndt’s presentation centered around changes to immigration and immigration enforcement actions which have taken place. Arndt stated that, “Case does not seem to be concerned about the impact of illegal immigration crackdowns, meaning that we are not directly exposed to threats related to [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)] crackdowns,” with the largest changes coming from more stringent visa-approval processes.

Much of this concern over immigration and visa-status hit the Cleveland area on Jan. 26 after reports surfaced that ICE had raided the Cilantro Taqueria restaurant in Coventry. Sandro Galindo, the owner of the restaurant chain, told News 5 Cleveland that six employees were arrested on Jan. 26, leading the restaurant to close until Feb. 4.  

Images posted to Reddit show two individuals, both wearing police vests and one with the words “ICE” on the back, outside the establishment by an unmarked gray van. 

While the raid has yet to be officially confirmed by the City of Cleveland Heights, an impromptu vigil was set up, with signs reading, “No One Is Illegal On Stolen Land” and flowers and stones. At an unrelated press conference, Cleveland Heights Mayor Kahlil Seren stated that the city was “still working to get confirmation to exactly what happened” and that the city was not informed, nor involved, with the reported raid. Later on Instagram, Seren uploaded a post that reads, “Saturday February 1st: Cilantro Day” along with a message of support, encouraging residents to patronize and tip at the restaurant. 

On Jan. 28, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb released a statement against the reported raid, reading, “As Mayor, I will use my full authority to recognize the humanity of all people in Cleveland. I fully condemn the concentrated effort to threaten and terrify our most vulnerable populations. Arresting immigrants working in a suburban restaurant does not make us safer.” 

Ardnt ended the presentation with a stark warning about the recent events. He said, “Finally, it’s important to remember that the administration is as shocked as we are. They are scrambling to conform to these new policies in order to protect this institution. The administration has made the decision to not speak out on any of these issues, believing that as a college deep in a red state it will only paint a target on our backs. Thus, the administration will continue to adopt the policies of the Trump administration, and there is sadly nothing we can do to stop this—at the administrative level at least.”