A University of Rhode Island biomedical research program for disadvantaged first and second-year undergraduates received a formal grant termination under the National Institutes of Health on March 21, leaving students in the program devastated.
Ever since funding freezes under the Trump administration swept the NIH funded programs like Enhancing Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Educational Diversity program have been at stake. The University of Rhode Island ESTEEMED program is the first out of 18 university chapters to go, according to program director Samantha Meenach.
“I wasn’t surprised that happened,” Meenach said. “I was surprised that it was so definitive, we had no warning.”
With freshmen receiving a yearly stipend of $10,000 and sophomores a yearly stipend of $12,000 stipend, the financial support played a huge role in their ability to fund schooling for themselves.
The email, which was sent out from the NIH Office of Extramural Research, informed the university of the grant termination was extremely disappointing and unprofessional, according to Meenach.
“It was just the most unprofessional email I’ve ever seen from anyone, let alone a government agency,” Meenach said. “I mean, if you just see the way it was written in the formatting, yeah, it was crazy.”
For the students involved, ESTEEMED gave them the opportunity to study research at URI, according to Meenach. This could include biomedical research, mechanical engineering and computer engineering.
“I wouldn’t have known about research in general, if it weren’t for ESTEEMED,” Victoria Delacruz, a second-year computer engineering major, said.
The program helped students like Lisa Agtemang, a second-year mechanical engineering major, break out of their comfort zone.
“I’m very shy so I feel like if I wasn’t in the program, I wouldn’t really be involved in school, apart from my classes,” Agyemang said. “The research too, there’s not [that] opportunity for any other [students] anymore.”
Since the termination, multiple students have expressed disappointment.
“It’s really disheartening,” second-year mechanical engineering major Liza Agyemang said. “ESTEEMED really provides a lot of support and its very sad for freshman cohorts because I’d love for them to have the same kind of support that we had when we started.”
First-year students were still in the beginning of the program when it got cut and didn’t have the ability to start performing research in the labs yet, according to Agyemang.
“I think they would have started actually working in labs next year, in the fall,” Agyemang said. “But that won’t happen anymore.”
Students have worked real hard, it’s extremely disappointing, according to Meenach.
“’I’m appreciative of all the hard work that they’ve put into it,” Meenach said. “It’s a lot of work, and it’s all going down the drain.”
The program cut puts similar URI training programs at risk, according to Meenach. This includes Maximizing Access to Research Careers Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research, a program like ESTEEMED, but for upperclassmen.
Diversity research programs outside of URI are impacted as well.
“There’s seven categories of diversity training from NIH, and I think they’re all going to get cut,” Meenach said. “There are so many students who are supported on these, so many.”
The grant termination not only hurts students’ opportunities with schooling, it is a painful personal and racially motivated attack, according to Meenach.
“I remember very specifically, like, the day after the first [Trump] election being like, cool our country doesn’t value women,” according to Meenach. “It felt very personal so now that this is happening even deeper and more blatant, it’s just crazy.”
The program termination is “100% racist,” Meenach said.
The termination has upset students, faculty and staff across the campus community.
“When I got the email about the termination, it went to a bunch of people like the president and dean of engineering,” Meenach said. “Everybody was very upset.”
Despite the risk, Meecach said she wanted to make her voice heard regardless.
“There are people here who are afraid to talk about this to the media for publicity,” Meenach said. “I’m not, I think people need to know.”
