Trump's NSF cancels 400 grants to programs for STEM diversity and combating misinformation

[get these nets]

04/22/25

 

[Kasper KArr]

Damn. I received the NSF GRFP a couple years ago. I could only imagine how ppl how feeling right now.

 

[Brolic]

This only effects white women and tethers

 

[Rick Fox at UNC]

Not a lot of nuance or analysis here. I'm guessing a number of those recently canceled grants were fairly new and likely implemented by the previous administration as some kind of signaling mechanism.

These articles love throwing "programs for STEM diversity" in the title because it raises eyebrows, but it's highly unlikely any significant strides were made in attracting "diverse" (whatever that means) groups into STEM fields.

 

[Elim Garak]

Both sides are the same.

 

[NobodyReally]

Not a lot of nuance or analysis here. I'm guessing a number of those recently canceled grants were fairly new and likely implemented by the previous administration as some kind of signaling mechanism.

These articles love throwing "programs for STEM diversity" in the title because it raises eyebrows, but it's highly unlikely any significant strides were made in attracting "diverse" (whatever that means) groups into STEM fields.

This isn't true. I'm at an HBCU, and people are losing money and scrambling to find other funders because their research specifically targets disinformation or STEM related to Black folks.

 

[Seoul Gleou]

This only effects white women and tethers

*affects

We need these grants now more than ever!!!

 

[Rick Fox at UNC]

This only effects white women and tethers

That's...the truth.

Even if the idea is these grants will help "diverse groups" (whatever that means) downstream, the actual grant money is/was likely procured by some white woman who wrote up a grant proposal while working at a university (ostensibly a PWI -- whatever that means). She was well versed in saying the thing and getting the sign off needed to get the grant money.

 

[get these nets]

Megan Zahneis (@mzahneis.bsky.social)

Here's a copy of an NSF grant termination notice that went out today. "NSF is issuing this termination to protect the interests of the government pursuant...on the basis that they no longer effectuate the program goals or agency priorities." Not subject to appeal. #HigherEd #AcademicSky

bsky.app

 

[Rick Fox at UNC]

This isn't true. I'm at an HBCU, and people are losing money and scrambling to find other funders because their research specifically targets disinformation or STEM related to Black folks.

Big part of being at a University (maybe the biggest) is looking for funders to fund meaningful research.

What is meaningful research? Whatever the person who agrees to fund it says it is. How do they know? Either the funder is an insider (unlikely) or someone (the media, politicians, researchers, etc.) sell them on it being important.

Listen, if you ask me to fund your disinformation research, I would tell you--I'm more concerned with building scalable datacenters, nuclear energy, GPU research, DeepSeek, and so on.

Online disinformation is a term that gained favor after the 2016 elections, mainly as a way of justifying who was elected and why. That's great, and there were concerns, but whether it remains an important research topic in 2025 is...

Again, when I say "important," not what you believe is important, but what is actually dominating scientific/engineering, political, and legal circles.


There are finite resources and limited funding, what was deemed important 10 years ago is likely not so important today.

 

[Adeptus Astartes]

This isn't true. I'm at an HBCU, and people are losing money and scrambling to find other funders because their research specifically targets disinformation or STEM related to Black folks.

Downplay, deflect, deny...

 

[get these nets]

This isn't true. I'm at an HBCU, and people are losing money and scrambling to find other funders because their research specifically targets disinformation or STEM related to Black folks.

Yes
Board has to eventually get rid of trumpers/bothsiders. Members and mods. At least there's a function to block/ignore members. I imagine that you're responding to a" bu bu but/deflection" comment.

Trump campaigned on being against diversity measures, and hit the ground running to end them when his term started. This is yet another instance of him rooting out DEI.

 

[get these nets]

DEI cuts hit Alabama program introducing rural Black students to STEM​

• May 16, 2025

 

[get these nets]

Ohio loses $4.7 million NSF program for minorities in STEM education

Ten Ohio colleges including CSU and Tri-C had their Louis Stokes Alliance funding cut on May 2, effecting mentoring and research opportunities for underrepresented students.

www.cleveland.com

05/30/25

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The National Science Foundation ended a $4.7 million program in which 10 Ohio colleges and universities worked to recruit and retain racial and ethnic minorities in STEM programs.

The NSF terminated the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation – named after the late Cleveland congressman Louis Stokes – nationwide. Most states had at least one LSAMP program, which aimed to diversify the science, technology, engineering and math workforce.

Each school’s program was unique but many featured mentoring, tutoring, research opportunities and student events.

The NSF had previously concluded Blacks, Hispanic and Latino Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders were underrepresented in the STEM workforce.

Thirty years before cancelling the program, the NSF charged state-level Louis Stokes Alliances to counter the underrepresentation with evidence-based strategies that would ultimately result in the graduation of well-prepared and competitive students.

This program is the latest cut from the federal government to Ohio colleges and universities since President Donald Trump took office. In addition to NSF funding cuts, at least $321.8 million from the National Institutes of Health is being cut from Ohio

NSF said on on April 18 that it is terminating awards “not aligned with agency priorities, ensuring current & new awards are consistent with our mission. We are committed to creating opportunities for all Americans everywhere, without exclusion of any groups.”



Most of Ohio’s $4.7 million grant – which began on Aug. 1, 2018, and was expected to end on July 31 – had been distributed. The NSF cut off money to Ohio State University, which ran the grant in the state and distributed the money to participating schools, on May 2.



The 10 colleges and universities that participated in Ohio’s Louis Stokes Alliance at were the following:



- Cleveland State University
- Cuyahoga Community College
- Ohio State University
- University of Cincinnati
- Central State University, Ohio’s historically Black public university outside Dayton
- Cincinnati State Technical and Community College
- Columbus State Community College
- Miami University
- Sinclair Community College in Dayton
- Wright State University

Ohio’s Louis Stokes Alliance has been in place since 2013. In some states, programs began in the 1990s