Murray State’s McNair Scholars Program struggles with funding due to President Donald Trump’s federal grant freeze.
In his effort to cut government spending, Trump ordered a freeze of 2,600 federal grant programs, including those considered to violate recent executive orders regarding diversity programs. On Jan. 27, the Federal Office of Management and Budget released a memo to all executive departments and agencies stating:
“… to the extent permissible under applicable law, Federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.”
Included in this initial federal grant freeze was the McNair Scholars Program. McNair is a federal program aimed at increasing Ph.D. attainment by students from first-generation, low-income backgrounds. The program also helps students from typically underrepresented groups in postgraduate education.
The program helps pay for students to conduct undergraduate research projects and show research results at scholarly conferences around the country. Kevin Binfield, director of the McNair Scholars Program at Murray State, said the freeze has already affected the program.
“The Murray State McNair program serves 29 students each year by conducting workshops on academic life, funding research, sending students to academic conferences, and sending them on graduate school visits,” Binfield said.
Binfield said the freeze on federal grant disbursement has left the McNair Program without much funding for their programs and activities. The program has had to pause payment for research and student travel. Binfield also said they have been unable to hire a program coordinator due to the freeze.
Shortly after Trump issued the freeze on federal grants, a number of legal cases were filed challenging the decision. Two federal judges ruled that the grant freezes violated constitutional law and ordered the continued disbursement of federal funds.
However, as a report by ProPublica details, the Trump administration has found workarounds to court orders and continues to try and prevent federal funding for certain programs.
Funding has not returned to normal for the McNair Scholars Program, Binfield said.
Binfield said the Department of Management and Budget was supposed to release more information on the freeze on Feb. 10; however, no such information was posted. Binfield also said he was unable to reach his contact at the Department of Education following the freeze. He has also been unable to contact state representatives regarding the issue.
The McNair Scholars Program has two pathways for eligibility among students. One is for first-time students from low-income backgrounds, and the other is for students from underrepresented groups in higher education, including groups such as Hispanic, Indigenous or African American students.
This second pathway for eligibility has caused controversy for the program and may be responsible for its inclusion in the grant freeze. Trump has filed a number of executive orders targeting diversity initiatives in the federal government.
In January, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against the Department of Education after two college students and two student organizations alleged illegal discrimination by the McNair Scholars Program due to its race-based criteria. The case was dismissed without prejudice as the universities hosting the program were not listed as defendants. The court was unable to identify any way for a ruling in favor of the students to compensate for their alleged injuries. This decision leaves room for the students to file another suite in the future.
“McNair and the other TRIO programs are not diversity programs in the sense that is normally understood,” Binfield said “The TRIO programs are primarily designed to serve first generation, income eligible students. They include students who are majoring in Wildlife Biology, Finance, and Agriculture–areas of need for Kentucky.”
While McNair continues without funding, University students and departments have felt the effects. Alexandra Hendley, associate professor in the political science and sociology department and mentor for a McNair Scholar, said the freeze had affected a presentation by her student.
“We were supposed to travel together to a conference in North Carolina this spring with the support of McNair funding,” Hendley said. “The recent ‘freeze’ of McNair funding has meant that those travel funds are no longer available to us.”
Hendley said though the University has other funds meant to support student research, those funds don’t have as much money as McNair and sometimes run out.
Hendley said she and her students had to change their plans to attend a conference closer to home. However, the submission deadline for this conference passed in December. It was only by the kindness of the conference organizers that the student was allowed to present.
“We were very lucky that the organizers were able and willing to add us to the program,” Hendley said. “Without their flexibility and kindness, my students might have altogether lost out on an opportunity to present their work.”
