USen addresses Department of Education funding cuts at Wednesday meeting
Not a picture of the meeting today, since it was online. Chancellor Kent Syverud assured SU’s Senate of financial stability while addressing federal changes to the Department of Education’s race-based programs. Christian Calabrese | Staff Photographer
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Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud addressed the recent changes within the United States Department of Education during Wednesday afternoon’s University Senate meeting, assuring senators that SU remains in a “strong position” amid funding cuts across American higher education institutions.
Last Friday, the DOEd launched investigations into 45 public and private universities over civil rights violations related to offering race-based scholarships and programs. While he acknowledged the unpredictable nature of the cuts, Syverud said he expects SU to remain off the list of investigated institutions.
“Syracuse University will comply with law as it develops, but we strongly believe all of our university programs do not discriminate against any group,” Syverud said. “… We’re a university that welcomes all and how we do that in each era and under each administration has had to be savvy and has had to be wise, and we’re in a situation where we have to figure out how to continue doing that now.”
As the administration has fired over 1,300 DOEd members and investigates dozens of higher education institutions for alleged civil rights violations, Syverud said he is following developments at Columbia University specifically.
On Mar. 13, the Trump administration demanded Columbia make changes to its student discipline and admissions processes before it would discuss its revocation of $400 million in federal grants and contracts, the New York Times reported. The demands come as the White House says the university failed to protect its Jewish students from harassment.
“It’s not just the scale of what’s being asked of Columbia, but the substance, including the academic substance that’s being requested of Columbia in order to benefit from federal funding,” Syverud said.
In February, the DOEd announced that any consideration of race in student, campus and academic life would be considered discrimination in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Times reported. Syverud said he’s working closely with Mary Grace Almandrez, SU’s vice president for diversity and inclusion, to create a “university-wide effort” to determine next steps.
University administrators, including Almandrez, are currently reviewing SU’s programs, resources and services for their compliance with Trump’s DEIA policies, according to a March 6 campus-wide email.
He said Almandrez and her team are reaching out to faculty, staff and students to help shape the university’s long-term strategy.
For many institutions, limited federal funding has already begun to impact annual budgets and planning for the next school year. On Mar. 13, Johns Hopkins University announced it was firing over 2,000 employees in preparation of a reduced budget, the Times reported.
Syverud said the university has maintained its finances well as it wraps up the 2025 fiscal year and doesn’t anticipate similar cuts at SU as the budget committee begins to prepare for the next fiscal year.
“We are not going to do some of the things you’re seeing elsewhere,” Syverud said. “So we’re not going to have large-scale layoffs. We’re not going to have across-the-board hiring freezes. We’re not going to have deep budget cuts or other drastic measures in graduate programs.”
In her remarks, Interim Vice Chancellor and Provost Lois Agnew said SU plans to implement changes to the First Year Seminar curriculum in response to student feedback. Among responses, Agnew said students often requested a greater focus on smoother acclimation to university life in the course.
Agnew said first-year students who don’t attend their FYS classes are more likely to transfer universities. She is working to form a group to develop a revised syllabus that addresses concerns before the end of the semester.
As the course serves as a mandatory orientation for first-year students, Agnew said Trump’s anti-diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility orders will need to be considered. However, she said these orders aren’t the primary motivation for course revisions.
“We need to be responsive to our student’s needs, and they are telling us this course in its current form is not fully meeting them,” Agnew said. “We’re committed to ensuring that the course will provide all students with the tools they need to be confident participants in our academic community.”
Syverud closed the meeting by encouraging senators to remember the rapidly changing nature of federal policy impacting American academia. He said he expects significant changes by the senate’s final meeting in mid-April that would impact both DEIA and the university’s budget.
“There will be more changes coming from Washington in the next 40 days,” Syverud said. “It’s 53 days to commencement, I expect in the next 40 days we’ll see more.”
