On Jan. 27, President Donald Trump’s administration’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo requiring a pause on “all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.” In doing so, universities across the nation were flung into chaos and uncertainty.
In a campus-wide email on Jan. 28, Case Western Reserve University President Eric Kaler commented on Trump’s executive orders and what they mean for students and faculty. He wrote, “These measures could significantly impact how we as a university operate, from where we receive critical funding, how we conduct research, with whom and how we can collaborate on impactful projects, and, importantly, who can study and work at Case Western Reserve.” Referencing the OMB’s memo, Kaler said, “It is unclear what the full scope of this memo is as well as its legality. However, we believe it could have a considerable impact on our current and pending federal funding.”
On Jan. 29, Kaler released a follow-up to his previous email, noting that the OMB rescinded their memo but that “there remains uncertainty around the new administration’s executive orders and their impact on higher education.” Kaler also announced a new page on the Office of Research and Technology Management website, meant to “help our researchers better understand the changing research environment.” The webpage offers information on how to submit funding proposals and manage monetary awards, in addition to providing links to official CWRU and White House statements related to research funding. The page also notes the uncertainty of future federal research funding, stating that “Changes to research compliance requirements and award reporting requirements are expected. These could be implemented by a federal agency or on a project-by-project basis.”
CWRU’s Undergraduate Student Government (USG) also issued a statement on Trump’s recent executive orders and the OMB memo, acknowledging the “shifts in financial aid policies, student loan programs, federal funding for universities, and ongoing threats to the rights of marginalized communities and DEI initiatives.” The email included links to several campus resources including the Office of University Financial Aid and University Health and Counseling Services. USG emphasized the importance of open dialogue and community and announced a pending town hall to “discuss the implications of the new Executive Orders and the steps we can take as a student body to support one another.”
Despite the rescission of the OMB’s memo, many CWRU students and faculty continue to face the effects of the executive orders and federal financial assistance changes, especially those conducting research.
One student, who requested to remain anonymous, said that her postdoctoral researcher left the lab because there was not enough funding to pay him. The student’s lab receives some internal and private grants, and she assumes that they will continue to receive some funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, she believes that the funding changes will make future research more difficult for her and other students doing research for course credit. “I came to Case because of the accessibility of research, especially for undergraduate students in STEM,” she said. “I know some of my friends who are in different research labs have expressed similar sentiments regarding funding concerns.”
Economics professor Susan Helper echoed these worries. Her research is supported by a grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation which, though paused for a few days, was allowed to resume. Helper said, “The Trump Administration’s action in pausing funding is a very serious breach of law and past practice.”