The Office of Management and Budget sent out a memorandum on Monday, Jan. 27 ordering for all federal agencies to “temporarily pause 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.”
This order caused a great deal of concern and confusion amongst the American public and the Drexel community.
The freeze was set to take place on Tuesday, Jan. 28, but was blocked by federal district judge Loren L. AliKhan, with the intent to halt the administration’s efforts until Monday, Feb. 3. On Wednesday, Jan. 29, the White House rescinded the order. Though the order was rescinded, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated in a press conference on Wednesday that the push to end the “egregious waste of federal funding” will not cease.
Turning to the university level, Drexel University is classified as an R1 Research Institution, receiving part of its funding from federal grants for its ongoing research efforts. With the scare of the rescinded federal funding freeze, investigators and students have wondered how this freeze would have affected Drexel’s active grants, funding and staff salary.
The freeze was set to halt activities by the National Institute of Health, National Science Foundation, and other federally funded biomedical research programs. In response to the order, Gliadelphia, a Philadelphia research community made up of both Drexel and UPenn laboratories, stated that “The current shutdown of the NIH and halt on all activities could have devastating consequences to the core biomedical scientific engine of our country, disrupting the important life-saving work of thousands of dedicated scientists and doctors, and have a massive cascading impact on economic activity, drug discovery and our pipeline of scientists and researchers for the future.”
Alex Sahl, a first year masters psychology student talked about the potential effects the freeze could have had on education for students.
“I was very disappointed by this decision. This choice pulled away valuable resources from education which affects everyone, including those he claims to advocate for. It was selfish and I don’t see any benefit to this decision,” Sahl said.
Drexel’s Office of Research and Innovation posted an update on the order’s university impact on their website on Wednesday, Jan. 29 before the freeze was rescinded.
“If the Executive Order takes effect, we do not yet have clarity on how federal agencies will handle activities that fall into the categories listed above,” referencing the OMB’s memorandum. “The most likely scenario is that decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis,” Aleister Saunders, Ph.D., executive vice provost for Research & Innovation said.
An extensive slide deck regarding federally sponsored research at Drexel was also included in Saunders’ update. In the event that the order had passed it “would have temporarily paused reimbursement to the University of federally sponsored research activities.” However, the ORI recommended that federally funded research at Drexel continue unless a stop work or cancellation order is received.
If researchers were to receive a stop work or cancellation order, they need to contact the ORI and “cease activities immediately, unless its human subject research and places participants at immediate risk,” the update slide deck continued.
The ORI will continue to update the Drexel community as they gather more information and plan to address the community later today.
Drexel Interim President Denis O’Brien addressed the University community in an email on Wednesday, stating, “through robust systems and processes that are managed by experienced professionals, our University is always prepared to respond to federal policy changes while safeguarding our community’s interests and well-being.”
“Our University is prepared to navigate these changes with precision, professionalism, and steadiness. We will lobby energetically and effectively for Drexel with lawmakers in Washington and Harrisburg. We also will continue to work closely with our partners and peer organizations to amplify higher education’s collective voice. And as more information becomes available, we will continue to provide updates and communicate directly to our community members who may be affected,” the statement continued.
This is a developing story and the Triangle will continue to provide information to the community as it becomes available.