3/21/25: ‘We’re living in the Twilight Zone’: Researchers decry Trump administration assault on science (Stat) Do scientists put themselves at risk by speaking out against the Trump administration? “Hell yes,” said Jonathan Jackson, a national expert on increasing diversity in clinical trials who was answering the question of an audience member at the STAT Breakthrough Summit East Thursday. “I might lose the grants I have by the middle of next week” just by being on this stage, he added, an answer that silenced the crowd. … But the stakes of the current attacks on science are far too high for all researchers to not speak out, Jackson, co-founder and research director of Crescent Consulting, and other speakers argued. https://www.statnews.com/2025/03/21/researchers-decry-trump-administration-assault-on-science/
3/21/25: Trump’s funding ax throws colleges into an existential crisis (Axios) The Trump administration is pulling multiple levers to squeeze universities. Institutions across the country are watching the administration’s moves closely — and wondering if they’ll be the next one in the spotlight. https://www.axios.com/2025/03/21/colleges-research-funding-trump-threat
See also: Trump’s Battles With Colleges Could Change American Culture for a Generation (New York Times) https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/us/trumps-battles-with-colleges-could-change-american-culture-for-a-generation.html
3/21/25: Trump’s Latest Target: Foreign Scholars (Inside Higher Ed) As the administration continues its crackdown on noncitizens in higher ed, international academics face ICE raids, deportation and challenges at the border. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/academic-freedom/2025/03/21/trump-administration-attempts-deport-bar-entry
3/21/25: ‘All this is in crisis’: US universities curtail staff, spending as Trump cuts take hold (Nature) The onslaught of US spending cuts is prompting drastic action by universities across the United States. Academic institutions are responding to the administration of US President Donald Trump’s cost-cutting campaign with hiring freezes, travel restrictions and moratoria on pay raises. At least one US university has shed staff, and other campuses are contemplating lay-offs and furloughs. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00849-y
3/21/25: ‘Boggles the mind’: US defence department slashes research on emerging threats (Nature) What are the implications of allowing artificial intelligence (AI) to make critical decisions about life and death in combat? That’s a question that Nicholas Evans, a social scientist at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, was hoping his research could answer — until funding for his grants was cut by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) this month. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00840-7
3/21/25: USDA Cancels Hundreds of Journal Subscriptions (Inside Higher Ed) The eliminated journal titles include any of those published by 17 presses, most of which are affiliated with universities or nonprofit scientific societies, including Cambridge University Press; Oxford University Press; the American Phytopathological Society, and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, which publishes the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/03/21/usda-cancels-hundreds-journal-subscriptions
3/20/25: French scientist denied entry into the US, French government says (Reuters) A French scientist has been denied entry into the United States, apparently because the scientist had expressed a personal opinion on the Trump administration’s research policy, the French Education Ministry said on Thursday. https://www.reuters.com/world/french-scientist-denied-entry-into-us-french-government-says-2025-03-20/
3/20/25: The scholars targeted for deportation by the Trump administration (NBC News) In each case, the Department of Homeland Security has justified its decision to kick them out of the country by citing an obscure provision in immigration law that dates to the Cold War and gives the secretary of state the authority to deport that person. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/scholars-targeted-deportation-trump-administration-rcna197331
3/20/25: As Trump cuts funding, Europe looks to poach top researchers from the US (Business Standard) A coalition of 12 European governments is pushing for a strategy to attract top-tier researchers from the US, as the country announces deep funding cuts to education and research under President Donald Trump’s administration . https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/european-nations-us-researchers-university-funding-cuts-donald-trump-125032000170_1.html
See also: Europe scrambles to help researchers escape Trump (Science Business) https://sciencebusiness.net/international-news/europe-scrambles-help-researchers-escape-trump
3/20/25: Trump team ‘survey’ sent to overseas researchers prompts foreign interference fears (Nature) A growing number of researchers in Australia, Europe, the United Kingdom and Canada who receive US funding have been asked to declare their institution’s links to China and whether their projects comply with US government ideology. Associations representing universities in these regions say this threatens academic freedom and undermines scientific advancement. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00850-5
3/20/25: Columbia up against Trump deadline for meeting demands over campus protests (Reuters) A deadline is looming for Columbia University to respond to nine demands on tightening restrictions on campus protests that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration says are preconditions for opening talks on restoring $400 million in suspended federal funding. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/columbia-up-against-trump-deadline-meeting-demands-over-campus-protests-2025-03-20/
See also: Why Trump’s Ultimatum to Columbia Could Upend Higher Education (New York Times) https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/us/columbia-university-receivership-trump.html
3/19/25: Chairman Moolenaar Demands Transparency from Universities on National Security Risks Posed by Chinese Nationals in STEM Programs (House Select Committee on the CCP) https://selectcommitteeontheccp.house.gov/media/press-releases/chairman-moolenaar-demands-transparency-universities-national-security-risks
3/19/25: Trump to Freeze $175 Million for U. of Pennsylvania in Latest Federal-Funding Threat (Chronicle of Higher Education) The Trump administration on Wednesday said it will pause $175 million in federal funding to the University of Pennsylvania, amid an ongoing investigation into campus policies governing transgender athletes’ participation in sports. As of Wednesday afternoon, Penn officials said they hadn’t heard from the federal government. The university had not received “any official notification or any details” of a funding freeze, a spokesperson said in an email to The Chronicle. https://www.chronicle.com/article/trump-to-freeze-175-million-for-u-of-pennsylvania-in-latest-federal-funding-threat
3/19/25: ‘We’re Going to Shut It Down’ (Inside Higher Ed) Nearly 60 days into his second term in office, Trump followed through on his campaign promise to dismantle the Department of Education. Now it’s up to Congress to decide if the agency will be abolished entirely. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/politics-elections/2025/03/19/trump-signs-order-break-education-department
