VOLUME 109, ISSUE NO. 18 | STUDENT-RUN SINCE 1916 | RICETHRESHER.ORG | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2025
Rice testifies for lawsuit against ‘devastating’ federal funding cuts JAMES CANCELARICH & ABIGAL CHIU
ASST. NEWS EDITOR & THRESHER STAFF
ABBY PEREZ / THRESHER
U.S. Senate flags $9 million of Rice research grants as ‘neo-Marxist,’ ‘woke nonsense’
Foreign policy and immigration Sammi Frey, co-president of Rice Young Democrats, said she’s disappointed by
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rC o Me llege dic of ine M Ca D A nce nd r C erso en n ter UT He alt hS c Ce ience nte M r Re etho sea di rch st H Ins osp itu ita tio l n
Donald Trump’s second presidency is off to an unprecedented start, with over 60 executive orders signed as of Feb. 12. Students shared their opinions, thoughts and worries about the new policies in action.
Trump’s ‘America First’ approach to foreign policy, which has included withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accords, halting global health funding and pushing for economic self-sufficiency. A social policy analysis major, Frey said her career goals have also changed since Trump’s inauguration. “In cutting all foreign aid, he’s essentially saying that the United States does not want to be a part of helping the world,” said
SEE FUNDING FREEZE PAGE 2
Texas Medical Center institutions could lose combined $130 million in NIH funding
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SEE ‘WOKE DEI’ PAGE 2
with the government’s sweeping efforts to lower federal spending — between NIH funding cuts, the U.S. Senate’s flagging of “woke DEI” research grants, to the Department of Government Efficiency’s attempts to salvage $55 billion federal dollars. Rice, which offered testimony for a lawsuit contesting NIH cuts, received over $24 million in federal NIH funding from the NIH during the 2024 fiscal year, according to public data.
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NOA BERZ
Rice could lose up to $4 million in research funding due to cuts to National Institutes of Health grants, according to analysis by the New York Times. On Feb. 7, the NIH proposed a drastic slash of funding for indirect costs, which include administrative and lab upkeep. The proposal was blocked by a federal court Feb. 11. Less than a month after the Trump administration took power, universities and research institutions across the country have grappled
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‘Just hoping this country doesn’t fall apart’: Students react to Trump term ASST. FEATURES EDITOR
SAAHITHI SREEKANTHAM
FOR THE THRESHER
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$9 million of Rice’s funding from the National Science Foundation has been identified by the U.S. Senate as “woke DEI grants” that promote “neo-Marxist class warfare propaganda.” The Senate Commerce Committee, chaired by Texas Senator Ted Cruz, released a database Feb. 11 that identified some $2 billion in “woke DEI” funding — over 3,400 grants — from research institutions and universities across the country. In a press release, the committee characterized these grants as “radical left woke nonsense” that has “poisoned research efforts, eroded confidence in the scientific community, and fueled division among Americans.” Rice accounts for 17 of those NSF grants, spanning research in chemical bioengineering, behavioral sciences, materials research and civil manufacturing. The NSF is an independent federal agency that supports non-medical research in science, engineering and technology.
Federal grant cuts jeopardize $4 million of research funding
Ric eU
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
The NSF disburses millions of dollars in grant money to Rice every year, funding initiatives like the Rice Emerging Scholars Program, a mentorship program for firstgeneration, low-income students studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics. RESP received a five-year, $2.5 million NSF grant in 2024, and is included in Cruz’s database of “woke nonsense.” “I don’t agree with the rhetoric at all,” said Mikeal Graham, who was a RESP Fellow in 2022. “They use those words to scare people who don’t know what they mean.” Graham, a McMurtry College sophomore, said RESP extended a support system, offered programming for higher-level STEM classes and provided a stipend that allowed him to purchase a laptop. “I don’t think I would be able to stay at Rice if I hadn’t gone through RESP,” Graham said. “RESP was one of the ways in which we were able to really level the playing field.”
SEE NIH LAWSUIT PAGE 2
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Rice joined 70 other universities supporting a lawsuit against the National Institutes of Health, which may reduce research funding by billions of dollars. A Feb. 7 NIH memo announced a drastic cut to indirect costs, which covers overhead for research institutions; including funding for lab spaces, water and power bills and paying subcontractors, according to testimony from Provost Amy Dittmar. The NIH’s guidance would limit an institution’s indirect cost rate to 15%. Rice’s is currently 56%, according to a Feb. 11 campus message from Rice president Reginald DesRoches. Such a funding slash, he wrote, would impact the “essential expenses” that fund Rice’s “successful research on potential treatments for cancer, diabetes, dementia and a host of other serious health care challenges.” In an interview with TIME Magazine, neuroscience professor Richard Huganir called the potential NIH cuts “the apocalypse of American science.”
ALICE SUN / THRESHER DATA FROM NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH, ANALYSIS BY THE NEW YORK TIMES.
Possible funding reductions Possible new funding after cuts
6% of students admitted in first-ever ED II round READ THE STORY ON PAGE 4