A $6.8 million federal grant to St. Thomas’ School of Education to address a teacher shortage was canceled by the Trump administration, The Crest learned Tuesday.
In an email to St. Thomas faculty Tuesday, President Rob Vischer wrote that the grant was canceled by the administration because of its classification as a “DEI initiative.” St. Thomas was notified of the cancellation on Feb. 7, according to a St. Thomas spokesperson.
The grant, called the Supporting Effective Educator Development Grant Program, offered 120 St. Thomas qualified students up to $10,000 in tuition support annually since 2023.
The discretionary grant was eligible to higher education institutions nationally.
Part of the Biden administration’s grant application required applicants to explain how they would “advance diversity in the teaching profession.”
In a Jan. 21 Executive Order, Trump ordered all executive departments and agencies to terminate “DEI discrimination” and wrote that the Department of Education would issue guidance to schools that receive federal funds within 120 days of the order.
The administration signaled that the order would affect higher education, writing that “(Higher education and other programs) have adopted and actively use dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race- and sex-based preferences under the guise of so-called ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion.’”
Vischer wrote that he plans to appeal the decision by the administration and that current students who receive grant funding would maintain that funding through the end of the semester.
Vischer also signaled that other federal funding grants may get canceled.
“These grant cancellations, changes to federal research funding, and other legislative proposals currently being discussed in Congress will likely have an impact on our operating budget,” he wrote.
Vischer also wrote that St. Thomas’ core mission and values that are based on building an academic community that “reflects the awe-inspiring diversity of the world we aspire to serve” would not change.
The decision drew criticism from both Minnesota senators.
Sen. Tina Smith wrote in an X post Tuesday that Trump’s Republican administration “(doesn’t) care who gets screwed” and that it is “vacuuming up every dollar (it) can for massive corporate tax breaks.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar also commented on the cancellation, writing in a Threads post Monday that it was “truly unbelievable.”
Anya Capistrant-Kinney can be reached at capi2087@stthomas.edu.
