Trump’s diversity purge freezes hundreds of millions in medical research at universities across the country

Universities across the country are scrambling to comply with President Donald Trump’s anti-diversity push in an effort to hold on to hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants that fund critical medical research in areas such as cancer and maternal health.

Universities across the country are scrambling to comply with President Donald Trump’s anti-diversity push in an effort to hold on to hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants that fund critical medical research in areas such as cancer and maternal health. Last month, the Trump administration threatened to cancel medical research funds and to pull the accreditation for universities that have diversity and inclusion programs and that boycott Israeli companies. The latest moves broaden the anti-DEI mandate that Trump signed just hours into his second term, declaring diversity, equity and inclusion efforts discriminatory. The administration is locked in a legal battle with Harvard University that on Monday saw officials cut off future funding, escalating a total freeze on $2.2 billion in federal grants directed to Harvard. The university has sued to unlock those funds, a fight that will likely be expensive, and take months to resolve. Most universities, particularly public and smaller institutions, lack the resources to take up the fight the way Harvard has. Dozens of schools across the country have publicly ended DEI programs and quietly taken down or rerouted websites referencing diversity and equity. Some have more openly acquiesced to the administration’s demands, banning the use of certain words and phrases such as “equality,” “gender” and “White supremacy,” and laying off dozens of university staff. But those efforts haven’t spared them from mass funding cuts.