Ellie Park, Multimedia Managing Editor

As President Donald Trump ordered the freeze of trillions in federal aid, around 100 college and university presidents gathered in Yale’s School of Management reacted to the unfolding news.

The presidents, convening for the annual Yale Higher Education Leadership Summit, found themselves “talking about the White House’s tantrum” for much of the day, said conference host Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a School of Management professor. 

The order moves to pause federal grants and loans until the government reviews whether the programs they fund align with “the President’s priorities,” which include reducing climate spending and eradicating diversity initiatives, running contrary to Yale’s recent investments in both areas.

Before Trump’s order was temporarily blocked by a federal judge late Tuesday, just minutes before it was set to take hold, panic and confusion gripped those who rely on federal grants and loans. At Yale, 75 percent of grants and contracts for academic research and training come from the federal government, totaling $899 million last fiscal year.

Hours before the court injunction, University President Maurie McInnis — who attended Sonnenfeld’s conference — and Provost Scott Strobel sent a measured email to the Yale community addressing the order.

“We want to assure you that we are actively working to understand the implications of any new policies, guidelines, and priorities,” McInnis and Strobel wrote. “The implementation of these changes will depend on interpretation by federal agencies and courts, so we do not have clear answers today on how this and other government actions will affect our university … In the meantime, we should all be mindful of the impact of university spending in light of these uncertainties.”

Around the same time at Brown, university leadership directly rebuked Trump’s order. Their president and provost wrote in a message that faculty and students should be able to pursue academic study “without restriction.” They announced a task force to address Trump’s executive orders, vowed to communicate with Brown’s researchers and declared that they may pursue legal action to redress the federal government’s orders.

Meanwhile, Harvard President Alan M. Garber reiterated his university’s commitment to “championing open inquiry, constructive dialogue, and academic freedom.”

McInnis and Strobel advised faculty, students and staff to continue business as usual using federal funding “except for cases where the university has received specific stop-work orders.” Neither responded to the News’ requests for comment asking to clarify whether any specific Yale groups have received stop-work orders.

The president and provost added that they have asked faculty and staff with expertise in relevant academic areas to provide guidance on responding to Trump’s executive orders and policy announcements that may affect Yale. They wrote that further updates about compliance with federal orders will be sent out if necessary.

The ideologically-framed order states that freezing federal assistance would give the government “time to review agency programs and determine the best uses of the funding for those programs consistent with the law and the President’s priorities.” The order specifically targets “DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.”

Prestigious private universities like Yale have become targets for conservatives, who see them as pushing “woke” ideals onto students.

Under McInnis, Yale has been ramping up its efforts to create and maintain relationships with lawmakers. In a December interview, she said that to address rising distrust in universities, Yale has been working more closely with legislators to advocate for the importance of universities to the United States. She travels to Washington often and is opening a new Yale office space in the capital.

Last year, Tamar Gendler, former dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, told the News that she thought the trustees who chose McInnis as Yale’s president wanted someone who “knows how to interact with the media” and therefore would be able to tactfully engage with a Trump administration hostile to universities. McInnis worked closely with state legislatures as an administrator at three other universities before Yale.

Three top University personnel — Michael Crair, vice provost for research; Kimberly Goff-Crews, secretary and vice president for student life; and Richard Jacob, associate vice president for federal and state relations — declined to comment about the funding freeze and referred the News to the University spokesperson or McInnis and Strobel’s email. Three administrators  — McInnis, Strobel and Jack Callahan, senior vice president of operations — did not immediately respond to the News’ request to comment.

McInnis told the News in the December interview that she also worried about the Trump administration dramatically increasing the tax on the University’s endowment, as Trump and Vice President JD Vance LAW ’13 have called for.

The U.S. Department of Education clarified that the funding freeze would not apply to Pell grants and student loans. Jeremiah Quinlan, dean of undergraduate admissions, confirmed that Yale’s financial aid would not be affected.

Sonnenfeld said that in a survey of the 100 college and university presidents at the Tuesday conference at SOM, 80 percent said they believed that the Trump administration is at war with higher education.

Trump has been in office for one week.

JOSIE REICH
Josie Reich covers the president's office. She previously reported on admissions and financial aid. Originally from Washington, DC, she is a junior in Davenport College majoring in American Studies.