Amid political crackdowns on research mentioning diversity and other flagged terms, Northwestern faculty are grappling with the federal government’s challenges to academic freedom and free speech.

Before the Trump administration froze $790 million in federal funding for NU Tuesday, the government had already slashed at least 700 National Institute of Health grants, at least 12 of which supported projects led by NU faculty.

Feinberg Prof. Cindy Veldhuis had two of her NIH grants canceled during the March 21 cuts. Without these grants, which fully funded her projects on LGBTQ+ couples’ behavior and family formation, she was unable to continue her research. Moving forward, Veldhuis said her research will have to focus on general populations rather than LGBTQ+ subgroups in order to get funding.

“I’m having to be really pragmatic and make decisions about what’s going to get funding back for me and my team,” Veldhuis said. “In terms of taking a more public stand by writing something that could be seen by anti-LGBT people, I have some pause, but I’m trying to get past that.”

An October U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee report labeled SESP Prof. Shirin Vossoughi a “radical researcher,” and criticized her outspoken support for students who participated in the pro-Palestinian encampment last year. It alleged her research on equitable education incorporated “subjective considerations” at the expense of objectivity.

Despite these targeted funding cancellations, Vossoughi said she hopes NU faculty will remain steadfast in their commitment to pursuing inclusive research and speaking out in their areas of expertise.

Feinberg Prof. Peter Sporn said his research on sarcoidosis, an inflammatory disease that disproportionately affects Black women, is also at risk of being targeted — simply because it identifies a health equity issue.

Sporn, who spoke at “The University Under Threat” panel in March said, “Opposition to the war in Gaza is not antisemitism. This is a pretext to harm academic institutions and to deny us (the chance) to do the kinds of free inquiry, to look at evidence, to do unbiased investigation of important research questions, and to really follow the truth.”

Feinberg Prof. Amesika Nyaku said she has seen researchers “continue to be vanguards” and refuse to back down in the fight for inclusive research, especially LGBTQ+ health research. However, she acknowledged that it’s stressful to work under the threat of funding cuts and public attacks.

Vossoughi said she was concerned about the federal government’s attempt to “silence” universities and reshape their research.

“I knew the risk I was taking,” Vossoughi said. “I knew that there could be these types of attacks. I would do it again, because I believe in what I stand for.”

Earlier this week, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint with the NIH. The ACLU alleged the cuts are an “ideological purge” of hundreds of projects with ties to “gender identity or Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (“DEI”) or other vague, now-forbidden language.”

“We will defend the rights of our faculty to determine the content of their research and resist any efforts to undermine the fundamental purpose of the university — the search for truth and enlightenment and the transmission of knowledge to our students and future generations,” a University spokesperson told The Daily in an email.

Vossoughi said that although she thinks the recent surge of anti-DEI rhetoric and attacks on free speech are an attempt to silence her and others, it is more urgent than ever to stand strong against repression as faculty members and for NU to not capitulate to the federal government’s pressure.

“The future of the field is hanging in the balance,” Vossoughi said. “And I think it’s going to be important for us to be very wise in how we respond.”

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Related Stories:

— NIH nixes at least 10 NU research projects related to LGBTQ+ health issues

— ​​SESP removes DEI research and coursework page from website

— SESP professor and alum chronicle modern history of anti-DEI education policy