President warns federal executive orders are disrupting research funding; university records stop-work orders
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Summary
University president reported new federal executive orders and Department of Education guidance are prompting litigation and stop-work orders that could reduce federal research support, while the university’s research office reported dozens of stop-work orders and two terminations midyear.
University of Hawaiʻi President (presenter name recorded as President Hensel) told the Board of Regents that a series of recent federal executive orders and a Department of Education ‘‘dear colleague’’ letter are changing how federal agencies will interpret civil‑rights and diversity policies and that the university has joined the state attorney general in litigation to block implementation.
Hensel said the Department of Education guidance requires universities to certify within 14 days that they ‘‘may not take any action based on race in any aspect of university operations,’’ and that noncompliance could affect federal funding, including student financial aid and research awards. She said a temporary restraining order is in place but that stop‑work orders and termination notices have already been issued against some university research awards.
The nut graf: Regents were told the orders create immediate operational risk to research programs and graduate students because extramural funding supports faculty, staff and student positions and campus research infrastructure.
Mark Preston, reporting for the research office, said mid‑year extramural awards were at about $550 million and could have reached a higher annual total, but that as of the meeting the university had recorded roughly 30 stop‑work orders and two terminations affecting awards from agencies including USAID, USDA–NIFA, NOAA and others.
Preston identified the Department of Education and the National Institutes of Health as particularly vulnerable areas because changes to agency priorities and an announced NIH cap on indirect (facilities and administrative) cost recovery could lower funding available to support research infrastructure. He said the university is monitoring stop‑work orders, evaluating impacts on personnel and students, and has established an emergency fund to provide temporary support for graduate students whose funding is disrupted.
Hensel said the university has filed litigation to challenge some executive‑branch actions and that a resource website and an advisory council for affected constituencies will be launched to coordinate responses. She said the university has also launched fundraising efforts via the UH Foundation to help graduate students affected by interruptions in federal funding.
Board members asked for more frequent briefings and urged administrators to operate on worst‑case assumptions while developing contingency plans for personnel, retirement‑fund implications and student support.
