{"id":212273,"date":"2025-03-14T15:52:07","date_gmt":"2025-03-15T01:52:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=212273"},"modified":"2025-03-14T15:52:07","modified_gmt":"2025-03-15T01:52:07","slug":"hensel-federal-policies-major-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/14\/hensel-federal-policies-major-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"President Hensel: Federal policies pose major challenges for <abbr>UH<\/abbr>"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 3<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Wendy_Hensel_forum_panel.jpg\" alt=\"Wendy Hensel and panel\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-212265\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Wendy_Hensel_forum_panel.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Wendy_Hensel_forum_panel-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Wendy_Hensel_forum_panel-130x73.jpg 130w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> President Wendy Hensel provided a stark update on the impact of new federal policies during a March 13 open forum, which was live-streamed to more than 1,000 viewers. More than 220 attendees gathered in person at the <abbr title=\"University of Hawaii\">UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa Campus Center Ballroom as Hensel delivered a 50-minute presentation, followed by an extended <abbr>Q<\/abbr>&#38;<abbr>A<\/abbr> session. The forum, initially scheduled for 90 minutes, lasted two hours due to the volume of questions.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/forum_crowd-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"crowd at forum\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-212267\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/forum_crowd-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/forum_crowd-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/forum_crowd.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I hope what you&#8217;re hearing in this presentation is deep concern over what&#8217;s happening, a genuine commitment to move forward with you together as we navigate this space and a commitment to do everything we can to preserve our core values,&rdquo; said Hensel. &ldquo;In what I think has to be one of the most existential threats facing higher education in our lifetimes.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Q6qqbsFsW84\">President Hensel forum presentation VIDEO<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=RuIbcMCIKgI\">Forum <abbr>Q<\/abbr>&#38;<abbr>A<\/abbr> VIDEO<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/presentation\/d\/1cwMhN0zlwMrKSCMPCR-v_07POYPYnnVon16mp-JGEDg\/edit#slide=id.g340ada30859_0_0\">President Hensel forum slide presentation<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Federal policy impact presentation<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Wendy_Hensel_podium.jpg\" alt=\"Wendy Hensel\" width=\"240\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-212266\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Wendy_Hensel_podium.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Wendy_Hensel_podium-104x130.jpg 104w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Hensel detailed various executive orders (<abbr>EO<\/abbr>s) and federal actions, <abbr>UH<\/abbr>\u2019s response and the anticipated impact, so far, to the 10 campus system, as this is expected to be just the beginning with the new federal administration.<\/p>\n<p>As of March 13, She estimated that <abbr>UH<\/abbr> could lose between 200 and 2,500 federally funded jobs out of 16,000 positions. The U.S. Department of Education&#8212;the university\u2019s third-largest source of federal funding&#8212;is facing a 50% workforce reduction, which could impact a variety of programs including career technical education and Native Hawaiian serving initiatives. In addition, the National Institutes of Health is proposing a 15% cap on indirect cost for research grants, which could be devastating to biomedical research at <abbr>UH<\/abbr>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I will not stand up here and tell you that everything is fine,&rdquo; said Hensel. &ldquo;I&#8217;m going to give you the real information that we are working through. I want you to hear my commitment to fight as hard as we possibly can for this community to ensure that we limit the impact in every way possible.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2><abbr>Q<\/abbr>&#38;<abbr>A<\/abbr> session<\/h2>\n<p>During the <abbr>Q&#38;<\/abbr><abbr>A<\/abbr> session, Hensel was joined by Vice President for Research and Innovation Vassilis Syrmos, Vice President for Budget and Finance\/Chief Financial Officer Kalbert Young, and attorney Gary Takeuchi from the <abbr>UH<\/abbr> Office of General Counsel. Together, they responded to more than two dozen questions from more than 250 submissions.<\/p>\n<p>Topics included:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Academic freedom and free speech protections<\/li>\n<li>Potential cuts to student financial aid<\/li>\n<li>Possible immigration raids on campuses<\/li>\n<li>Status of international students<\/li>\n<li>Protecting Native Hawaiian programs and services<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Hensel also addressed concerns about diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (<abbr>DEIA<\/abbr>) content on <abbr>UH<\/abbr> websites, refuting claims that the administration had ordered the removal of <abbr>DEIA<\/abbr> references. She clarified that units were asked to assess language in response to federal policies but were never directed to take down content.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The <abbr>LGBTQ<\/abbr> website that&#8217;s been repeatedly referred to, that was done on their own initiative with no conversation from us in advance,&rdquo; said Hensel, who also acknowledged that in some instances, the directions may have been misinterpreted or miscommunicated. &ldquo;This is an emergency situation evolving in real time.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>She reminded the audience that no service on the <abbr>UH<\/abbr> campuses has been stopped as a result of the change in federal policies.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;So in terms of the actual provision of resources, absolutely nothing has changed,&rdquo; said Hensel. &ldquo;If that&#8217;s not true, I want to know about it. That&#8217;s the kind of thing you need to tell me because I will intervene.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>A graduate student later accused her of political doublespeak and censorship and challenged her moral stance. In response, Hensel emphasized the difficult position that the university is in.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I do not have the luxury of making an intellectual argument that doesn&#8217;t affect thousands of people&#8217;s jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars to keep the university open,&rdquo; said Hensel. &ldquo;And every decision that we make will lead to people being fired. And every decision that we make will lead to a significant loss of funding that means students will not be able to pursue their education and have access to equal opportunity.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Hensel ended the forum by thanking everyone in attendance online and in-person saying she appreciated the conversation and promised that it will continue.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We will not always agree, and we will not always come to a conclusion that everybody is comfortable with, but we will talk to each other and we will reach these conclusions as a community,&rdquo; said Hensel. &ldquo;That is my commitment to you.&rdquo;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hensel provided a stark update on the impact of new federal policies during a March 13 open forum, which was live-streamed to more than 1,000 viewers and more than 220 in-person attendees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1193],"tags":[1674,61,62,63,64,65,394,71,14,9,60,947,59,56,1664,66],"class_list":["post-212273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-administrative","tag-executive-orders","tag-hawaii-community-college","tag-honolulu-community-college","tag-kapiolani-community-college","tag-kauai-community-college","tag-leeward-community-college","tag-presidents-office","tag-uh-community-colleges","tag-uh-hilo","tag-uh-manoa","tag-maui-college","tag-uh-system","tag-uh-west-oahu","tag-video-2","tag-hensel","tag-windward-community-college","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212273"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":212279,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212273\/revisions\/212279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}