As a Rutgers center cancels conference, colleges ponder impact of other Trump orders involving immigration, research funding

The Rutgers University Center for Minority Serving Institutions canceled an upcoming conference indirectly funded through the U.S. Department of Labor, in response to President Donald Trump’s orders for federal agencies to cease diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

It comes as colleges are closely watching a myriad of orders by Trump, including one that would allow U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement agents to take action on college campuses. Another has paused communications from federal health agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, which is responsible for billions in research funding, at least through Feb. 1.

“Unfortunately, due to President Trump’s Executive Orders … we have been asked to cease all work under the auspices of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility HUB at Jobs for the Future, which the U.S. Department of Labor funds,” wrote Marybeth Gasman, executive director of the Rutgers center in an email this week to registered participants of the conference on apprenticeship programs.

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The minority serving center wasn’t the only entity impacted at Rutgers. President Jonathan Holloway in a message to Rutgers leaders Friday noted that several offices had reported receiving stop-work orders for federal grant-funded activities involving diversity, equity and inclusion.

Jobs for the Future, which was funding the conference through a $13 million grant, is a nonprofit that works with education and workforce entities to create equitable economic outcomes. Every partner on that grant ― which came through the nonprofit’s diversity, equity and inclusion hub that is funded by the federal labor department ― was told they had to stop that work, Gasman said in an interview. The grant was scheduled to end in June.

Nearly 100 registrants were scheduled to attend the event next week for historically Black colleges to learn more about paid apprenticeship programs from those that already take part in them, she said. Gasman emphasized that the cancellation had nothing to do with it being an HBCU event, but because of the funding source.

When the grant started, she said there were only two HBCUs doing apprenticeship programs, which are especially helpful for students from low-income families to learn and get paid; now there are 21.

Some have questioned why she canceled the event, she said, but without the funding and none of the staff from Jobs for the Future or its partners able to participate, she would have had to find new staff to participate in a short time.

Holloway in his message to the campus community said, “Know we remain committed to building an inclusive community.”

While the conference cancellation is one example of a concrete action taken in response to a Trump initiative, some higher education officials said it was too early to adequately gauge the impact of the executive orders.

“We are watching in real time as the new administration is putting policies in place,” Kate Shaw, executive director of the Pennsylvania State Board of Higher Education, told the board at its meeting Thursday. “I think it’s a little too early to know exactly what the parameters of those policy changes are going to look like.”

Jonathan A. Epstein, interim executive vice president of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and dean of the Perelman School of Medicine, acknowledged the anxiety among researchers after Trump announced a pause on communication with federal health agencies, including the National Institutes of Health.

NIH provides about $40 billion in funding to 300,000 scientists at about 2,500 universities and research institutions nationwide, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

“Please know that we are working with our academic and government relations colleagues to understand and respond to the potential impact of these events,” Epstein wrote in an email obtained by The Inquirer. “We are working closely with your department chairs and institute/center directors, and we remain focused on our strategic priorities.”

The university, he noted, had adapted before “when new information arrived frequently, but the implications for the future were hard to predict,” citing the early days of the pandemic.

“We are tracking events closely and will continue to share information as it becomes available,” he wrote.

Rutgers in a statement said it also was monitoring the pause on meetings, communications and travel at NIH and would provide guidance to faculty and staff as the university learned more.

In an email to faculty and staff, Drexel University said the changes could potentially affect both those projects already awarded and those awaiting funding, but did not recommend stopping research without consulting with the school’s Office of Research & Innovation.

“We are closely monitoring this dynamic situation,” the email said.

The concern among faculty is palpable.

“There’s an extraordinarily high degree of uncertainty in areas where there has been certainty,” said Eric Feldman, chair of Penn’s faculty senate and a law professor, “ … which has led recipients of federal funding to be unsure both of whether or not they will be able to continue their work as funded and has left grantees uncertain as to whether their proposals will be reviewed in a timely and objective manner.”

In addition, potential ICE agent action at colleges has generated discussion on campuses, though it’s unclear what colleges, which are home to some undocumented students, could do.

“Colleges and universities are not immune to federal law, and there are not many options when law enforcement shows up with a warrant,” said one local higher education official, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the topic.

Temple University said it has in the past, at least since 2009, been visited by ICE under the Administrative Site Visit and Verification Program.

“We have a protocol in place for handling such visits,” said spokesperson Steve Orbanek. “We expect that we would follow the same or a similar protocol if ICE chooses to come to Temple under other programs.”

The university, he said, follows Temple’s visitor’s policy and coordinates visits with appropriate offices. That covers visitors who come to conduct business at the university.

At Rutgers, Holloway said in his message that the school has received no notice that ICE would be on campus, but doesn’t expect that it would. The university, he said, will not share student records unless required by law, and Rutgers’ police department doesn’t ask or document the immigration status of students unless a serious crime occurs.

“Rutgers is committed to ensuring that any federal enforcement actions on campus adhere to due process, including the requirement of a warrant when necessary,” Holloway said.