College Hall on March 20.
Credit: Jean ParkPenn faculty members received stop work orders for research grants totaling approximately $175 million after the White House announced a funding freeze on March 19, according to a Tuesday email from Penn President Larry Jameson.
Jameson wrote in the March 25 email — the first University communication since the funding freeze was announced last week — that faculty across seven of Penn’s schools were notified that their federally contracted research was halted. The message also addressed the federal government’s claim that the University was in violation of NCAA policies for allowing the “participation of a transgender athlete on the women’s swimming team in 2022.”
The White House, Department of Defense, and Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to multiple requests for comment. A request for comment was left with a University spokesperson.
The halted funding contracts are for “research on preventing hospital-acquired infections, drug screening against deadly viruses, quantum computing, protections against chemical warfare, and student loan programs,” according to the email. Jameson added that the stop work orders follow the cancellation of several federal grants to the University and the “slowing down” of grant awards going forward.
“Federal funding freezes and cancellations jeopardize lifesaving and life-improving research, the loss of which will be felt by society and individuals far beyond our campus for years to come,” the email read. “Understandably, we are hearing concerns not only from scientists affected directly, but more broadly from students and young faculty embarking on careers in research.”
Jameson wrote that the University is “actively pursuing multiple avenues to understand and address these funding terminations, freezes, and slowdowns.”
“We value the long-standing partnership with the federal government to carry out research that makes America stronger and healthier,” the email concluded. “Robust federal research support for more than 75 years has made America’s higher education system the envy of the world. I hope we can restore trust and refocus on creativity, innovation, and training.”
The March 25 message also acknowledged the Title IX investigation into Penn launched by the Office of Civil Rights on Feb. 6. Jameson stressed the University’s past and present compliance with both NCAA rules regarding transgender student-athletes as well as executive orders from the current administration.
Jameson first commented on the Trump administration’s policies — specifically federal funding freezes, revised immigration policies, and a crackdown on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs — in an email on Jan. 28. He sent a second message to the Penn community on Feb. 11 following the announcement of federal funding cuts capping the indirect cost funding rates to research universities at 15%. On Feb. 25, Jameson sent a third message referencing the “existential threat” of federal funding cuts.
Penn has 21 active contracts and 596 active grants that receive funding through the two agencies — totaling hundreds of millions of dollars — according to Department of the Treasury fiscal year 2025 data.
The largest HHS grant that was awarded to Penn in fiscal year 2025 was a $54.1 million grant to the Center for AIDS Research at the Perelman School of Medicine. While over $14 million of the grant was already disbursed, the remaining balance has been promised to the center. The award is designated as a noncompeting continuation, meaning that it provides ongoing support for a previously funded project.
On Feb. 5, 1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump signed an executive order explicitly barring transgender women from participating in women’s sports. The executive order promised to “rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities, which results in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy.”
The following day, the Department of Education launched an investigation into Penn for Title IX violations for allowing 2022 College graduate and transgender woman Lia Thomas to represent Penn women’s swimming and diving during the 2021-22 NCAA swimming and diving season.
Three former Penn women’s swimmers who competed with Thomas during that season also filed a separate lawsuit for Title IX violations.
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