This message was shared with the students, faculty and staff of the 10-campus University of �鶹��ý system on September 18, 2025.

Aloha UH ʻohana,

I write to provide you with an update on the impact of the U.S. Department of Education’s decision to end discretionary funding for several Minority-Serving Institution programs.

Before I do that, however, I want to acknowledge the stress and worry these cuts have brought many students and employees. I know that students are concerned about how they might continue to receive vital support provided by these grants, and I know that we have employees whose livelihoods could be impacted. We see you, we hear you, and we are working hard to address these concerns.

With that said, the scope of these cuts is not complete as of yet. However, the picture is becoming clearer.

As of today:

• Title III Part A discretionary grants: UH holds 22 active grants totaling $55.7 million in this category. At this time, 11 of the 22 grants have received “non-continuation” notices. Because many of the affected grants have been in place for several years and “spent down,” the immediate amount UH may lose from non-continuation is approximately $10 million. We are waiting for further guidance on if or how we can use these funds.
• Title III Part F: UH holds grants in this category that total $45.4 million. No notices to discontinue have been issued at this time.However, USDOE has indicated that it believes these awards are unconstitutional, making their future uncertain.
• Title VI: UH holds eight grants in this category totaling $5.4 million. We have received “non-continuation” notices for all eight grants. Because many of the affected grants have been in place for several years and “spent down,” the immediate amount UH may lose from non-continuation is approximately $802,000. We are waiting for further guidance on how or if we can use these funds.
• Native Hawaiian Education Program (NHEP): We have three awards in this category that were reduced by a combined $843,000.

These numbers represent a significant disruption to programs and services that directly support our students, faculty and staff across the 10-campus system. We know that behind every dollar are students, faculty and staff whose opportunities, success and sense of belonging at UH are directly affected.

We are scheduled to meet with the U.S. Department of Education officials next week to gain clarity on next steps and potential pathways forward. We remain in close communication with our congressional delegation and state leadership, and we will continue to provide updates as this situation evolves.

Again, I realize that these cuts were sudden and unexpected and that this is weighing heavy on many hearts and minds. I’m with you and I thank you for your patience, resilience and steadfast dedication to our mission. Together, we will navigate this challenge and continue to put our students and communities first.

With aloha,
Wendy Hensel
UH President

The ’s nearly 20-year involvement in a national effort to support underrepresented students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has come to an end, following the termination of federal funding for the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program.

Since 2006, UH Hilo has led the Islands of Opportunity Alliance, using LSAMP support to provide mentorship, research stipends and academic pathways for Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander and first-generation college students.

Over the years, LSAMP empowered nearly 400 UH Hilo students—and more than 1,300 across the region—through transformative experiences that propelled many into graduate programs and leadership positions in �鶹��ý‘s STEM workforce. Until its recent termination, the grant also supported students at UH ����ԴDz�, UH West Oʻahu, Chaminade, �鶹��ý Pacific University, the University of Guam and numerous community colleges throughout the Pacific.

“LSAMP helped me connect my cultural identity to scientific research,” said Shania Tamagyongfal, a Yapese student who earned both her undergraduate degree in anthropology and master’s in heritage management at UH Hilo. “It gave me the confidence to lead, collaborate, and pursue work that matters to my community. Losing this program is a real setback for students like me.”

Chancellor Bonnie D. Irwin noted that LSAMP “embodied our commitment to creating pathways for historically underserved students in higher education. It not only supported academic success but also helped our students see themselves as scientists, researchers and leaders. Its legacy will remain part of how we move forward.”

Keaholoa STEM Scholars Program also impacted

The termination also affects the Keaholoa STEM Scholars Program, a UH Hilo initiative that blends Hawaiian values with scientific education, offering students a culturally grounded space to explore STEM.

“Programs like Keaholoa and LSAMP help our students see that science can reflect their culture, language and values,” said Keaholoa Program Manager Keala Campbell. “That connection empowers them, not just to succeed academically, but to lead in ways that honor who they are. We’re committed to finding ways to keep that momentum going.”

Next steps

UH Hilo leadership remains committed to building on the foundation LSAMP and Keaholoa established—finding new ways to support students, advance equity in STEM, and honor the programs’ enduring impact.

“The community we’ve built around these programs is strong,” said LSAMP Program Director Joseph Genz, “and we’re doing everything we can to keep that momentum going.”

‘Not in alignment with current NSF Priorities’

On May 2, 2025, UH Hilo received official notice from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that LSAMP funding would be terminated, effective immediately, representing a loss of nearly $2.3 million in support over the next five years. The NSF offered the following justification for its decision: “termination of certain awards is necessary because they are not in alignment with current NSF Priorities.”

LSAMP joins a growing list of federally funded programs across the UH system affected by evolving national grant priorities—more than 80 programs have been impacted to date.

A program at the University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz� that supported dozens of career development activities for women in geosciences and community outreach was terminated by the loss of federal funding.

In April, Barbara Bruno, project lead and faculty member at the in the UH ����ԴDz� (SOEST), was given a termination notice with instructions to immediately close operations on the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded program. About two-thirds of the nearly $200,000 budget was forfeited when the grant was terminated.

“SOEST is �鶹��ý’s largest producer of geoscience graduates—alumni who go on to monitor volcanic hazards, predict extreme weather, conduct assessments of environmental impacts, ensure sustainable use of �鶹��ý’s freshwater resources, and more,” said Bruno. “I think the biggest impact of this termination is the loss of professional development opportunities for women. STEM is hemorrhaging women—we need programs to keep them.”

The NSF award supported a mini-grant program, , that funded geoscience workforce development in two ways: outreach and community engagement to attract the next generation of STEM professionals; and professional development for current SOEST students and early career scientists.

Loss of career development and outreach opportunities

Through the mini-grants program, female students, post-doctoral researchers, staff and faculty submitted applications to secure funding to attend professional meetings, technical or career development workshops; or engage in field work or research collaborations. For example, this project supported activities of a co-writing group for women in SOEST and multiple student-oriented groups focused on diversity, equity and inclusion within UH.

The federal funding cut also resulted in terminating two months of Bruno’s salary and several mini-grants that were in process. Funding was pulled from a Palauan graduate student who is pursuing her doctoral degree in the Marine Biology Graduate Program and studying the unique and diverse coral communities of Ngermid Bay in the Republic of Palau.

The successfully completed outreach and community engagement efforts supported by this program include training for ; and workshops, hands-on activities, and presentations to community members and middle and high school students that focused on and .

“We were also actively soliciting applications for the next round of CASA funding when we received the termination notice,” said Bruno. “Ending this grant eliminates the support for future professional development opportunities and K–12 and community engagement.”

Next steps

On May 28, �鶹��ý Attorney General Anne Lopez and 15 other attorneys general filed a lawsuit to stop illegal attempts to cut critical NSF programs and funding that help maintain the U.S.’ position as a global leader in STEM. Bruno submitted a declaration in support of this federal lawsuit, attesting to the adverse impacts of the sudden termination of her NSF grant. Bruno is actively pursuing alternative funding sources to support these initiatives.

A vital part of �鶹��ýʻs safety net for financially struggling families and kūpuna is threatened by federal budget cuts, potentially leading to many more people going hungry and eroding the health of communities.

The University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz�’s SNAP-Ed program, run by the (CTAHR), is one of the federally funded initiatives on the chopping block in the U.S. Congress.

For years, SNAP-Ed has played a key role in teaching ʻohana how to prepare healthy, budget-friendly meals, helping to fight hunger and support community well-being across the state.

“Our college has been working with local families and kūpuna (elders) through SNAP-Ed for more than 20 years,” said Jean Butel, SNAP-Ed program director at CTAHR. “Our SNAP-Ed program has become a trusted community partner that helps about 15,000 community members across �鶹��ý every year. We meet people where they are: public schools, farmer’s markets, senior care facilities and other community gathering places.”

Funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP-Ed teaches eligible ʻohana how to plan meals, stretch their food dollars, compare prices, and even grow their own vegetables.

Program success

Data highlights the program’s effectiveness with CTAHR’s direct education classes:

• 91% of participants improved their diet.
• 83% learned to budget, compare prices and plan meals.
• 40% reported they could afford more food or had enough for the family.

CTAHR and the �鶹��ý State Department of Health manage SNAP-Ed programs with a combined $1.57-million budget for this year. However, SNAP-Ed has been eliminated from the federal budget being debated by Congress, putting the future of the program at risk in �鶹��ý and nationally.

“We are grateful that �鶹��ý’s Congressional delegation fully supports SNAP-Ed. With our geographic isolation, high cost of living, and ongoing food insecurity, full funding is essential for Congress to continue supporting �鶹��ý’s SNAP-Ed families and kūpuna,” said CTAHR Dean Parwinder Grewal.

If Congress does not restore funding, the program will end on September 30. Supporters say that cutting SNAP-Ed programming could hurt ʻohana already struggling with food insecurity.

A recent round of federal funding cuts included the termination of a $3 million grant from the Office of Naval Research to the University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz�. The grant, awarded to Chip Fletcher, interim dean of the (SOEST), supported the (CRC), which provided data and high-resolution modeling of sea level rise impacts, heat exposure and precipitation extremes—critical tools that inform decisions made by state and county agencies, urban planners, infrastructure designers, and emergency managers.

“The loss of federal funding for �鶹��ý’s climate and sea level rise research will have devastating consequences for the state’s ability to plan, adapt and protect its people and resources,” said Fletcher.

“The models we develop and their supporting databases underpin key pieces of �鶹��ý’s climate legislation and coastal permitting regulations, including assessments of flood risk, groundwater inundation, coastal erosion, coastal construction setbacks and public safety. Without sustained federal investment, �鶹��ý will lose its capacity to provide accurate climate projections tailored to island topography, severely hampering our preparedness for compound hazards such as king tides, rain-at-high-tide flooding and storm-driven flooding.”

CRC employed 15 people, including graduate students, climate researchers, policy experts and geospatial analysts. To prepare for and adapt to the growing threats related to climate change in �鶹��ý and the Pacific region, this team gathered data and developed new modeling tools that reduce vulnerabilities to community and infrastructure on the island of Oʻahu.

Specifically, the CRC team has been modeling the impacts of sea level rise including flooding, coastal erosion, drainage failure, wave impacts at higher sea level and groundwater pollution with higher sea level.

Data guides land management, policies

Various state laws and policies rely on CRC data and models: construction setbacks on Maui, Kauaʻi, and Honolulu; mandatory disclosure of sea level rise impacts in real estate transactions; Special Management Area designations on Maui and Oʻahu; Kauai County sea level rise constraint district; and the required analysis of sea level rise impacts in state Environmental Policy Act, including environmental impact statements and environmental assessment permits.

“The loss of these data systems will undermine the scientific foundation of climate resilience policies, stall progress on community adaptation, and increase the vulnerability of coastal populations, public infrastructure, and cultural heritage,” Fletcher emphasized. “Maintaining federal support is not just about sustaining science—it is about safeguarding �鶹��ý’s future.”

—By Marcie Grabowski

A three-year effort to support Pacific Island communities with climate data for resilience planning has been upended by the termination of a grant overseen by the University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz� .

The grant was terminated on May 15, with about $175,000 of the original $456,000 remaining unspent. It funded two primary objectives: providing climate and weather research to Pacific Island communities, and integrating the results and data into a web-based dashboard, maintained by , an affiliate at the . Initial integration into the dashboards had begun when the grant was ended.

The project was part of a collaboration with NOAA and other local partners in the Island-Led Resilience 2030 initiative, which is an extension of a broader United Nations’ effort to implement sustainable development goals through place-based action.

“The idea was that my team would provide the science behind some of the issues surrounding climate change,” said James Potemra, the project’s principal investigator. “Then, �鶹��ý Green Growth would add this to the sustainability development goal dashboards.”

Impact on �鶹��ý and the Pacific

Potemra and his team conducted scientific studies into the environment and climate of the Pacific and provided their findings to stakeholders, such as local governments, for further action.

The project aimed to expand research to Pacific Islands beyond �鶹��ý, starting with the Republic of Palau and the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

The funding cancellation put an end to the team’s climate research and forced them to pull out of their international partnerships.

“We spent a lot of time going out to Palau, and we were promoting what we were doing,” Potemra said. “Now, unfortunately, we have to say, thanks for giving us the input, but we can’t do anything anymore.”

Future steps

In an effort to avoid any major staffing changes, Potemra said he is leveraging other SOEST grants to fund the three staff members that were working on Pacific climate research before the grant was terminated.

Potemra also said he is looking into alternative funding sources, such as the United Nations’ , to continue his work in the Pacific.

“The hope is the UN will renew that to address another group of islands,” Potemra said. “And if that’s true, then we’ll be very aggressive about getting more funding and going to different places out in the Pacific.”

Still, Potemra acknowledged that finding a full funding replacement is a challenge.

“It’s really a herculean task at this point,” he said.

Read more on UH’s response to federal policy changes.

— By Grant Nakasone

An innovative outreach program that helped thousands of �鶹��ý public school students and teachers connect with Hawaiian culture and sustainable farming was cut short after an unexpected termination to its federal grant.

SPROUTS, short for “Students Propagating ʻUlu Trees for Schools on Oʻahu,” was run by the University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz�’s (CTAHR). It aimed to plant ʻulu (breadfruit) trees at public schools while teaching students about sustainability and cultural identity.

For many, SPROUTS was more than planting trees—it was about planting purpose.

In the past two years, the program worked with 84 teachers from 31 schools and reached more than 2,600 students across the state. At Kaimukī Middle School alone, students cared for 65 ʻulu trees, which were planted at 18 schools and four farms on Oʻahu.

The SPROUTS program initiative was supported by a $48,825 federal grant through the �鶹��ý Department of Land and Natural Resources.

In February, the funding stopped without warning.

“I had to draw from other sources to continue purchasing supplies for the ongoing care of the trees,” said Lydi Morgan Bernal, a junior extension agent at CTAHR who has helped spearhead SPROUTS at �鶹��ý schools.

Future opportunities clipped

The cut shelved a third professional development course and according to Bernal, has denied more than 1,000 students the chance to engage in ʻulu-based learning this year.

Throughout the years, public school teachers have praised the program’s impact on their students and themselves.

“I feel blessed to have been part of this ʻulu-focused course,” a teacher commented in an evaluation. “I’m eagerly anticipating the opportunity to share my knowledge and passion with others. I entered with hesitation but emerged with a deep appreciation for ʻulu trees, a range of practical skills, and innovative ways to engage my students.”

Decades of support for underrepresented students in �鶹��ý and the Pacific has been shut down due to federal budget cuts. Two student research programs run by the University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz�’s (JABSOM) have been ended by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

If the decision stands, we’ll feel the void in five to 10 years—in our classrooms, our clinics and our communities
—Angela Sy

The unexpected termination of the (STEP-UP) and the is anticipated to have lasting effects on local students and the state’s ability to grow its own biomedical workforce.

Pathways cut short

Pacific STEP-UP, a high school research pathway program active since 2002, has served more than 445 students directly and hundreds more through laboratory education. Its director, George Hui, explained that the program trained underserved students, often from rural or isolated communities in the Pacific, to conduct research relevant to their communities.

“From studying taro farming in the presence of global warming and sea level rising, to investigating pollution in the Marshall Islands, students tackled real-world, locally rooted problems,” Hui said.

NIH recently and unexpectedly ended funding for the program. “They said we were engaged in DEI activities that are not aligned with the current administration,” Hui said.

The cut came despite Pacific STEP-UP changing its eligibility rules in March 2024 to include everyone in the Pacific, removing race, ethnicity or sex as criteria for application reviews or funding decisions.

“We were confident we wouldn’t be affected,” Hui said. “We adjusted a year ago. And we had more applications than ever, over 500 this cycle. Now, we’re telling kids they can’t participate. There’s no time, no backup plan, and no comparable alternative.”

Over the last two decades, Pacific STEP-UP was a proven success with students launching successful careers in STEM. Most recently, Nichelle Torcelino from Guam was accepted to Yale, Columbia, and the University of Pennsylvania. Others from American Samoa have gone to Harvard and claim advanced degrees in public health.

Programs offered more than research experience

“We don’t just give our students lab time,” Hui added. &dquo;We help them believe they belong in science and research. Without programs like this, that path disappears for many.”

The MHRT program, launched in 2013 by Vivek Nerurkar, and now led by Angela Sy, both from the Department of Tropical Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Pharmacology, sent underrepresented undergraduate and graduate students to conduct mentored research in places such as Thailand, India, American Samoa, Guam, Cameroon and Liberia.

“These students often had never traveled beyond the state. They return transformed—not just as budding scientists, but as global citizens,” said Sy.

More than 123 students participated, with 66% pursuing graduate degrees and many now working in medicine, research, and academia.

Sakaria Laisene Auelua-Toomey a MHRT 2015 alumni who graduated from UH ����ԴDz� in 2016 earned a PhD in psychology from Stanford University in 2024 and is now a faculty at UH ����ԴDz�.

Impact on �鶹��ý’s research future

Program leaders say the cuts hurt �鶹��ý’s ability to build a local workforce. “These are resource-limited areas,” Hui said. “Without exposure to science, there’s no pipeline.”

JABSOM officials are hoping for a legal reprieve. The termination is being challenged as part of a multistate lawsuit against NIH’s rollback of DEI programs.

“If the decision stands, we’ll feel the void in five to 10 years—in our classrooms, our clinics and our communities,” said Sy.

.

A federal grant that helped digitize �鶹��ý’s rarest plant seeds was abruptly terminated in April, dealing a major blow to the University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz�’s Seed Conservation Lab and its efforts to preserve endangered flora.

The $250,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) was awarded three years ago to fund high-resolution imaging and online access to the lab’s seed collection, one of the largest tropical seed banks in the world. The project was in its final months and nearing completion when researchers were informed of the funding cut.

The decision came after federal agency staff were placed on administrative leave, following a meeting between IMLS leadership and officials from the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency.

“We were blindsided,” said Nate Kingsley, manager of the Seed Conservation Lab. “We had no warning. The project was scheduled to wrap in August, and most of the digitization work is done. But we lost our imaging technician, and we now must find alternative ways to maintain the website that houses this collection.”

Lyon’s Seed Conservation Lab banks more than 34 million seeds from more than 650 native Hawaiian taxa—roughly 45% of the state’s known flora. Nearly half of those species are federally listed as endangered. The lab plays a critical role in long-term storage, restoration and research through partnerships with the Plant Extinction Prevention Program, the Department of Forestry and Wildlife, and others.

The digitization effort made the collection accessible to scientists and seed banks around the world. Kingsley said the resource has already been widely used for identification, research and education.

“Being on an island, and in a freezer, our seeds aren’t exactly easy to access. Digitizing them allowed us to share data without compromising viability,” he said.

With the project halted, Kingsley said he’s exploring stopgap solutions such as recruiting volunteers or student help—but the technical demands and hosting costs remain unresolved.

“To lose this resource now would be devastating,” he said. “We built something that not only preserved our native biodiversity, but helped others do the same. I just hope we can find a way to keep it alive.”

The lab is seeking alternative funding and hopes the site, which currently remains online, can be sustained in the short term. Without intervention, the project—and access to critical conservation data—may soon vanish.