The federal government has frozen $175 million in federal funding to the University of Pennsylvania. The freeze comes after UPenn’s policies on transgender athletes participating in women’s sports. The funding freeze has caused concerns for students who fear the possible impacts on their education and research opportunities.
“I think it’s extremely harmful not only to higher education, but, I mean, to America as a kind of research engine of the world,” said UPenn sophomore, Eli A.
He also shared his concerns on how political motivations played a role in the funding decision. “I think that any place that the Trump administration thinks that they can get a big news story out of, any place where they feel that punitive action could be beneficial for them or their base, I think they will take it.”
UPenn freshman Jannell Y. is worried about the impact this will have on their research, which depends on federal funding. “I find it very heartbreaking because the program that I’m in is a four-year fellowship. And we really do depend on first exposure to research. It’s really heartbreaking to know that it might not be a program that lasts all throughout my Penn career.” Jannell believes that the university should do its best to continue research and fight this situation. “Penn should talk to its constituents and see just how impacted they are, just so that they can, you know, navigate and see just how deep this has affected everyone.”
With the University of Pennsylvania’s federal funds gone, many of their projects are stalled. Other universities are watching closely. Temple University is keeping an eye on how a freeze like this could affect their research. Temple’s research department has received $450 million in overall federal research grants. Some of that funding has already been revoked.
Dr. Gladden, Temple’s vice president of research, confirmed that several programs funded through the Department of State and USAID were quickly terminated, along with many other contracts. “We’re being as proactive as I think we can be in the sense that we’re trying to make sure we are communicating the value and the impact that our research mission results in,” he said.
Now, Temple students are pushing for administrators to take action to protect the valuable research that takes place at the university. Senior Nevaeh Robinson pointed out the importance of advocacy. “We should continue to be advocating for the things that we feel are beneficial in our academics, as well as administrators understanding that the students should be put first in front of all of this.” She added, “We’re the face of the university. Without research, a lot of other things start to disappear from Temple’s campus.”
Temple sophomore Deep Patel mentioned the potential long-term effects if there is no research program at the university. “The research that Temple is doing, a lot of it is life-changing. There’s a lot of cancer research happening and a lot of research fighting other diseases.” He added, “I believe taking away research is going to prohibit us from making advancements in technology, medicine, and other things.”
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