On Jan. 27, 2025, the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a memo set to pause all federal assistance disbursements on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. The memo, which was only two pages in length, was vague in its language and did not clearly outline what federal assistance would and would not be on pause. Institutions, businesses, citizens and universities around the country were left in a state of confusion about what might happen next; Doane was one of those universities that was scrambling to understand the impact of the federal funding freeze as quickly as possible.
“My first reaction was one of disbelief,” Doane University President Roger Hughes said. “I was very surprised at the magnitude of the memo… My confusion was magnified by a lot of universities and a lot of people’s confusion, and we were motoring this on an hour-by-hour basis.”
Like most Americans, President Hughes and Doane’s Leadership Team were working first to understand the scope of the memo. They sent an email to staff and faculty members, aiming to provide direction on whom to contact. They also used their connections with the government and other universities to try to understand the magnitude of the memo.
“We are so lucky to have people like Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Luis Sotelo on our leadership team, who don’t get rattled, and on Monday, he was already in front of it and was telling us how we as a university can react to it (the memo),” President Hughes said. “He has a great sense of knowing what’s going to happen and what actions we probably need to do. The key was not to overreact. It was to calm down and let it play out. The first thing was to see how the funds we relied on would be affected.”
Like many universities, Doane is incredibly reliant on federal funds and assistance, whether for scholarships, Pell Grants, such as TRIO, or federal grants, such as Title III or IX. When the memo was released, there was a lack of transparency regarding what federal assistance would and would not be available during the freeze.
“We at the leadership level try to be as transparent and communicative as possible, especially when people’s scholarships, grants, and salaries are in place and people are relying on us, we want to keep them fully informed as they go forward,” President Hughes said. “No university would survive very long without federal funding; this federal funding is generally meant with the intent of helping people get an education.”
Almost as quickly as the memo hit people’s newsfeeds, it was put on freeze mere hours before it was to go into effect and rescinded early on Jan. 29, 2025. Federal judges temporarily blocked the OMB memo from going into effect, and lawsuits set to counter the memo were filed by over 20 states; the current administration in the White House has expressed a desire to attempt another sweeping memo that mandates federal funding be put on hold until agencies meet federal guidelines.
President Hughes and the Doane Leadership Team are working to establish failsafes and build strong communication channels with other universities and the government to help soften the blow in the event of another sweeping memo.
“My first focus when I was reading the memo was the students, and thinking about how we can make sure that their lives are not uprooted, then thinking about faculty and staff and how this will affect them,” President Hughes said. “We are going to continue to lobby, connect and advocate for grants and funds and communicate to all parties at the national and state levels the value of education. Ultimately, if a directive comes into play we will allocate funds in a way that has the least amount of effect on the student experience.”
Currently, there is no new memo or directive in place; however, this is subject to change. President Hughes and the Doane Leadership Team will inform students and staff on what to do in the event another memo is to be released.
