SU pauses funding to STEM, African American studies graduate fellowships
Syracuse University’s Graduate School has paused funding for new STEM and African American Studies fellowship awards. In an email to program directors and faculty, Graduate School Dean Peter Vanable said the pauses were “in response to budgetary constraints.” Leonardo Eriman | Daily Orange File Photo
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UPDATE: This story was updated at 11:09 a.m. Feb. 19, 2026
Syracuse University paused funding for new fellowship awards under the STEM and African American Studies programs, Graduate School Dean Peter Vanable wrote in a Monday email to graduate program directors and chairs.
In the email obtained by The Daily Orange Wednesday, Vanable wrote the pauses, which will only affect new applicants, were “in response to budgetary constraints.” Students who have received fellowships with multi-year funding commitments will continue to receive support as “originally promised.”
“These decisions are not made lightly but reflect the difficult tradeoffs we’re facing across all graduate funding priorities,” Vanable, who also serves as the associate provost for Graduate Studies, wrote. “We recognize the importance of these programs in supporting our graduate students and their scholarship. We will continue to assess our funding landscape as circumstances evolve.”
The AAS fellowship was open to graduate students who integrate African American or Pan African studies into their respective fields of study.
Interim AAS Department Chair James Haywood Rolling Jr. said the pause “saddens him a great deal” as a former AAS graduate fellow, which he shared paid for his full tuition and a stipend for living expenses.
“I would not be a university professor today if not for the AAS fellowship altering my career trajectory,” Rolling Jr. wrote in a statement to The D.O. Wednesday.
Rolling Jr. said Vanable has provided him “additional context” since Monday. However, he said he urged the dean to “shift” its funding priorities back to support the fellowship.
“While I appreciate the challenges of the rapidly evolving funding landscape in higher education and at SU,” Rolling Jr. wrote. “I also expressed my hope that the university will make a way to shift its funding priorities back toward the support of these life-changing fellowship opportunities as soon as possible.
The STEM fellowship is a single funding program that provides funding to Ph.D. students in STEM disciplines, a spokesperson for the university and Vanable told The D.O.
“The University continuously assesses its academic programs and graduate funding priorities, taking into account student interest and career placement opportunities,” the SU spokesperson wrote in a Wednesday statement. “Like many institutions, we are also navigating a challenging economic environment marked by sharp increases in labor costs.”
The decision follows similar cuts and pauses to graduate programming at colleges across the country, including Boston University and the University of Pennsylvania.
This story will be updated with additional reporting.
