A recent memo from the executive office of the president, sent the education system into a frenzy around the country. The memo was created on Jan. 27, and by the next morning it circulated around Tech, sending faculty into a search of what this meant and what the next steps were.
The memo, which has since been temporarily blocked by a district judge, was sent to schools across the country declaring a pause of federal funding to “Wokeness.” The memo indicated federal agencies were required to identify and review all federal financial assistance programs.
Recent executive orders, Protecting the American People Against Invasion (Jan. 20, 2025), Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid (Jan. 20, 2025), Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements (Jan. 20, 2025), Unleashing American Energy (Jan. 20, 2025), Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing (Jan. 20, 2025), Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government (Jan. 20, 2025) and Enforcing the Hyde Amendment (Jan. 24, 2025), were cited as an indicator of what programs would have funding cut.
While there had been talk of what the executive orders meant for Tech, the memo itself was unexpected by faculty, and the contents unclear. These factors led to the confusion surrounding the memo.
“This temporary pause will provide the Administration time to review agency programs and determine the best uses of the funding for those programs consistent with the law and the President’s priorities,” Memorandum M-25-13.
On Jan. 28, at 5:00 p.m. the pause was to take effect, however U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan blocked the order. The block was to remain in place until Monday February 3. However, the next day the order was rescinded.
One of the main reasons the memo was rescinded was due to confusion of what it targeted. Although it has been temporarily blocked, the executive orders of the Trump administration remain in effect.
An interview with Neal Hunt, Tech’s assistant vice president for research administration, gives an institutional perspective to the current situation. “For the majority of our projects there’s not much chance of getting significant cuts to them,” Hunt said.
“They’re not cutting based on PI [principal investigator] demographics.”
A principal investigator is the faculty running the research or public service project. This means individuals aren’t targeted, but activities are.
“I don’t think we’re at substantial risk in terms of the DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] and foreign aid components. That said, we do have quite a bit of research that might fall under environmental justice, green energy,” Hunt said.
It is uncertain whether it and other projects will survive based on the work it is doing, or if cuts will be more aggressive and based on the title and description.
Hunt later clarified, “Individual projects can be affected substantially and for the faculty working on those grants that can result in serious impact.”
While the memo has been rescinded, the executive orders remain, thus there is still uncertainty over what is to come next as faculty await further guidance. What exactly will survive the cuts leaves many faculty wondering the effects this will have on current projects and future ones as well.
