Alabama’s research institutions have largely stayed silent about President Donald Trump’s freezing of money awarded through the National Institutes of Health, which could potentially hurt schools throughout the state. (Twenty47studio via Getty Images)
Alabama’s colleges and universities are scared.
And I understand why. If an administration that prioritizes ideological conformity over intellectual curiosity cut off one of my key funding sources, I’d hesitate to speak out, too.
But they don’t have a choice. Not they take their educational missions seriously.
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When Alander Rocha asked some of Alabama’s key research universities about the loss of nearly $400 million in National Institutes of Health funding — money that supports research into cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease and a whole host of diseases — after President Donald Trump froze the funding last month, he got silence.
The University of Alabama Birmingham, which will suffer the most from the suspension, issued a generic statement. So did the Southern Research Institute. So did the University of South Alabama.
Yes, they’re trying to figure out what’s going on. Lobbyists may be working behind the scenes to get the money back.
But for God’s sake, guys. Meekness is not a strategy. You should know that.
Last year, the Alabama Legislature — upset over intellectual debate and welcoming attitudes on college campuses — made it illegal to run a diversity, equity and inclusion program on campus, and left the door open to fire teachers who teach “divisive concepts.”
What is a divisive concept? Why, it’s anything that upsets the white Republicans in the Legislature.
This was a real test for the University of Alabama and Auburn University. Other public colleges and universities in Alabama must comply with whatever short-sighted idea lawmakers have at the moment. UA and AU enjoy constitutional protections and self-perpetuating boards of trustees that give them some independence.
That independence was an opportunity. They could have made it difficult for lawmakers to push through this assault on their students. And given cover for other Alabama schools to fight for theirs.
Instead, they caved.
UA abolished its DEI program and closed dedicated spaces for the school’s Black Student Union and LGBTQ+ resource center. Auburn dumped its program, too.
Alabama did replace its DEI program with some vaguely worded “Division of Opportunities, Success and Connections.” But Auburn didn’t even try to replace what was lost. It closed its office and reassigned employees.
And other campuses followed. South Alabama, which has one of the highest percentages of Black students of any non-HBCU school in the state, mumbled something about “volunteerism” as it closed down its program.
Standing up to lawmakers had risks. The state’s conservative media, always chasing pointless rage, would have had a fit. A far-right legislator would have puffed out his chest and demanded retribution. State funding could have been threatened.
But there was no guarantee such threats would have succeeded. Colleges and universities are major employers in many lawmakers’ districts. Any number of senators representing Alabama, Auburn, Troy University, North Alabama, South Alabama, West Alabama and more could have blocked punitive cuts against the schools or made it harder for the Legislature to carry them out.
I can’t imagine legislators would have wanted a drag-out battle with the schools over this, especially one likely to put members of the Republican caucus at odds with their communities.
But that didn’t happen.
And will capitulation spare the schools from further attacks on their independence?
I wouldn’t bet on it.
“Alabama House Republicans will continue pushing back against ‘woke’ policies and radical efforts that attack our morals and work to change the fundamental beliefs that make our state such a special place to live, work, worship, and raise families,” the House GOP’s 2025 legislative agenda says.
And now these schools face an attack on their research funding from a man with the same anti-DEI attitudes as Alabama lawmakers. The National Science Foundation, another key source of grants for universities around the country, froze its grants last week.
Universities are proud of their research. They should be. Dedicated men and women working in academia have made discoveries and developed techniques that improve our lives and help us better understand the world and each other.
That work is under attack. If college administrators see intellectual inquiry as something other than a marketing slogan, they need to fight for their researchers.
The state’s colleges and universities need to pull together and create a united front against these tantrums. They should pressure federal and state lawmakers to do their jobs; to represent their constituents and above all else, to uphold the independence of institutions that elevate our state.
In other words, they have to be far more forceful than they’ve proven to be.
There are risks to such an approach, just as there were in opposing the state’s anti-DEI law.
But there are far greater perils in staying quiet. Relying on the good faith of people distorting the goals of higher education and the motives of those dedicated to it will lead to disaster. Protest may not work, but humility will never be rewarded.
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