Have Trump’s anti-DEI orders hit private funders? HHMI halts inclusive science programme

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) — one of the world’s largest private funders of basic biomedical research — has abruptly cancelled a US$60-million initiative aimed at boosting diversity in science at universities. It has also scrubbed mention of the programme from its website.

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In doing so, the funder has terminated grants to 104 US universities approximately in the middle of a six-year funding cycle without any explanation. The move has unsettled many scientists, who are reeling after US President Donald Trump issued a stream of orders in the past few weeks targeting “illegal” diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies and funding across the country, saying that they diminish “the importance of individual merit, aptitude, hard work, and determination when selecting people for jobs and services in key sectors of American society”. In the wake of these orders, US science agencies have ordered staff members to strip DEI mentions from government websites and are scrutinizing federal research grants that violate the decrees with an eye towards revising or cancelling them.

That such a massive private funder, which doesn’t receive federal funding, is cutting support at such a sensitive time “is so disappointing”, says Danielle Beckman, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Davis. “Now is the time that we need private funders to fill the gap that the new administration has left” by threatening public science funding.

An HHMI spokesperson confirmed that the institution terminated the initiative, called Inclusive Excellence 3, on 5 February, adding that HHMI “remains committed to supporting outstanding scientists and talented students training to become scientists” through its other programmes. The spokesperson did not respond to Nature’s queries about why IE3 was cancelled, why HHMI deleted all its webpages referencing the programme or about scientists’ distress over the termination.

A ‘safe haven’?

With a $24 billion endowment, HHMI is the second-wealthiest medical-research foundation in the world. Its prominent Investigators programme offers each of its awardees $11 million over a renewable seven-year term to conduct groundbreaking research.

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Its IE3 initiative arranged its awardee universities into seven different ‘learning communities’ to encourage collaboration on projects. Each community of about 15 US institutions received nearly $9 million and was tasked with deciding how and where it wished to invest that money. For example, one of these communities was working to build more robust peer-mentoring programmes that would help to boost student outcomes.

Although HHMI did not say why it ended IE3, Trump’s 21 January order on DEI might have played a role. In it, he calls for US agencies to encourage the private sector to end “illegal DEI discrimination”. He directed each agency, within four months, to produce a list of up to nine companies, non-profit organizations, “foundations with assets of 500 million dollars or more” or other private institutions for possible civil-compliance investigations.

To understand the importance of IE3, Nature reached out to nine researchers listed as a principal investigator on one of the programme’s grants. Some did not respond, and the others either declined to comment or requested anonymity because they feared drawing attention to their university in the current political climate.

In the United States, “we know we have a problem retaining STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] students, especially with how COVID interrupted schooling”, and this money helped to bring institutions together to address the problem, says one of the researchers. “All the momentum we had built — gone.”

The decision has left scientists in a bind, because it appears that federal funding for research related in any way to diversity and inclusion will dry up after Trump’s crackdown. “There were rumours this would happen to federally funded grants, but many people thought that private foundations might be a safe haven from all that,” the same researcher says.

The fact that HHMI not only ended the programme but also wiped IE3 off its website was particularly disheartening, Beckman says. “It’s like it never existed.” Sometime in the past six months, HHMI also deleted a landing page where it stated its commitment to DEI and posted demographic data about its grantees and staff members.