WHAT WE’RE READING ELSEWHERE
The Trump administration has canceled $400 million worth of grants and contracts to Columbia University, accusing the school of not doing enough to address antisemitic harassment of Jewish and Israeli students. The site of a pro-Palestinian encampment last year, Columbia has taken measures to satisfy the new administration, to the alarm of free-speech advocates, and said it will “work with the government to try to get the money back.” A former researcher at the university who continues to teach there, and is Jewish, called it a “falsehood” that Columbia is a hotbed of antisemitism, but the leader of a Jewish student group said the cutoff should be “a wake-up call to Columbia’s administration and trustees to take antisemitism and the harassment of Jewish students and faculty seriously.” (Associated Press)
An environmental group has sued the Environmental Protection Agency over a freeze on a $7 billion grant it was awarded last year. Climate United said it cannot access its account for the federal Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and therefore cannot make loans to businesses working on “solar power, electric trucks, and energy-efficient affordable housing projects.” Other nonprofits have also been shut out of their share of the $20 billion program. The agency did not respond to a request for comment, but its administrator, Lee Zeldin, “called the green financing program, pursued by the Biden administration, a ‘scheme’ that was ‘purposely designed to obligate all of the money in a rush job with reduced oversight.’” (New York Times)
The Trump administration has stalled payments of at least $60 million for affordable housing projects nationwide. The money from the Department of Housing and Urban Development would go to small nonprofits, which would use it to pay construction costs and to attract private investors. A HUD spokesperson said “the department is consolidating some grants, while others remain,” but a contract termination letter from HUD said the contracts were canceled at the direction of the Department of Government Efficiency because they “were not in compliance” with Trump’s executive order targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. (Associated Press)
The largest nonprofit in North Carolina’s Research Triangle is cutting about 150 jobs, adding to 200 layoffs it announced last month. RTI International, which conducts scientific research, gets significant grants from the U.S. Agency for International Development and the National Institutes of Health. In a statement, the organization said more “workforce changes” could be coming as “federal priorities” shift. RTI has an annual budget of more than $1 billion and gets most of its revenue from federal, state, and local governments. (Triangle Business Journal)
The Trump administration is ending two programs that provide locally produced food to schools, child-care facilities, and food banks. The programs, worth a combined annual $1 billion, were key to getting around pandemic-era supply chain problems. A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture said the programs “no longer effectuate the goals of the agency.” The shutdown comes as schools are increasingly struggling to afford healthy food for their students and food banks have seen demand skyrocket as inflation pushes more people into food insecurity. (Politico)
Open Philanthropy is launching a $120 million effort to help cut the red tape that can block development of housing and infrastructure across the country. The grant maker, funded primarily by Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and his wife, Cari Tuna, will be joined by the Good Ventures foundation, Stripe CEO and founder Patrick Collison and others. Their new Abundance and Growth Fund will support “advocacy, research, and policies to reduce burdensome regulatory barriers,” which a growing corps of commentators have blamed for making housing scarce and unaffordable. (Bloomberg CityLab)
Bill Gates has shuttered the public policy arm of his omnibus climate-focused venture, Breakthrough Energy, to concentrate on helping clean-energy companies instead. The move is a tacit acknowledgement that policy work is unlikely to bear fruit with Republicans in control of the federal government, sources told the New York Times. Gates also closed Breakthrough Energy’s European unit and laid off most of its employees working on partnerships with other climate groups. In all, dozens of staff members were cut. (New York Times)
As nonprofits across the country face funding threats and broad hostility from Washington, United Way of Rhode Island has launched a fund to help local groups navigate the new reality. The grant-maker has pulled $500,000 from its reserves and aims to raise another $500,000 from the community. Grants of $25,000 to about $50,000 will go to organizations that provide basic services, such as food and shelter, and have been hit by federal cuts or freezes. (Boston Globe)
The Trump administration has cut ties with, and dropped a lawsuit against, a nonprofit shelter accused of abusing unaccompanied migrant children in its care. Southwest Key Programs has been awarded billions in federal funds over two decades. In a Biden-era lawsuit, the Justice Department said the company had documented dozens of cases of abuse from 2015 to at least 2023. Attorney General Pam Bondi blamed the Biden administration’s immigration policies for the abuse, but Southwest Key’s award money more than doubled under the family-separation policy of President Trump’s first term. A spokesperson for Southwest Key said it denied the abuse claims. (New York Times)
Some small farmers are facing bankruptcy with the abrupt end of federal programs that allowed local food banks and schools to buy their produce. Food charities and schools, meanwhile, are figuring out how to replace the food that would have come from local producers. Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins has called the Biden-era programs, which had eased Covid-era disruptions in the supply chain, “nonessential” and “an effort by the left to continue spending taxpayer dollars that was not necessary.” Most farmers have already started their growing season and many have taken out considerable debt, while food banks are dealing with a huge uptick in demand. (New York Times)
Your Chronicle subscription includes free access to GrantStation’s database of grant opportunities.
Animal Welfare: The PEDIGREE Foundation provides grants to shelters and rescues across the country to increase dog adoption. Program Development Grants support initiatives aimed at increasing adoption rates, with funding available in the following categories: foster programs that place dogs in temporary, loving homes; behavior programs that focus on socialization, training, and stress relief; and transport programs that help organizations move dogs from overpopulated areas to regions with better adoption opportunities. Grants range from $10,000 to $15,000; application deadline April 13.
Literacy: Believe in Reading funds programs in the United States dedicated to the teaching and encouragement of reading for all ages. Funding is considered for programs that serve any age or aspect of supporting reading and literacy, including adult literacy, English as a second language projects, or Braille-related projects for the blind or visually impaired. The focus is on successful literacy programs that serve populations showing out of the ordinary needs, such as geographic areas with low reading scores and high poverty levels. Grants up to $3,000 for first-time applicants.
