U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-T.X.) released a database of over 3,400 grants awarded by the National Science Foundation that he is requesting the agency conduct “significant scrutiny” of for “promot[ing] Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) or advanc[ing] neo-Marxist class warfare propaganda,” detailed a Feb. 11 press release. Of the listed projects, 22 were from Cornell, accumulating $18.7 million in NSF funding.
This database was the “backbone” of Cruz’s October investigation into "how the Biden administration politicized scientific research,” according to the press release. The committee analysis named “Division. Extremism. Ideology.” found that more than 10 percent of NSF grants, or over $2.05 billion in federal dollars, funded projects advancing DEI tenets or “pushed onto science neo-Marxist perspectives about enduring class struggle.”
According to the press release, the investigation relates to Trump's executive orders issued on Jan. 20 and Jan. 21 urging the elimination of DEI programs, offices and positions. In response to Trump’s executive order, The NSF paused grant review to reassess the process’s compliance with new policies. However, it has since resumed proposal processing and review activities and worked to reschedule canceled panels.
The database classified awards under five categories — status, social justice, race gender and environmental justice.
Of the Cornell projects listed, 18 were labeled under the status category, meaning they “described persons based on their membership in a population deemed underrepresented, underserved, socioeconomically disadvantaged, or excluded” and “described communities as oppressed and science as a tool for continued oppression, rather than advancing science,” the investigation states. The status category was the most prominent in the database, with 3,160 grants categorized using keywords and phrases like “Underrepresented + Underrepresentation” and “Minority + Minorities.”
17 Cornell projects were labeled under the social justice category, which “funded projects aiming to force left-wing social justice perspectives into scientific disciplines,” the investigation states. Keywords and phrases for the social justice category include “Equity + Equitable” and “Inclusive + Inclusion + Inclusivity + Inclusiveness.”
Five projects were included in the gender category, flagged by keywords and phrases like “Women and Underrepresented” and “LGBTQ + LGBT.”
“These grants went beyond attempts to provide opportunities to increase female participation in science,” the investigation states, regarding grants classified under the gender category. “Many projects treated success as a zero-sum game, asserting either white men or other populations—but not both—could be successful in STEM, and presumed that white men were explicitly keeping other communities from accessing STEM learning.”
Four NSF grants to Cornell research were classified in the race category, which includes “projects insinuating or explicitly stating that objective, reproducible science is tainted by racial bias.” Three grants were put in the environmental justice category, which includes studies categorized using keywords and phrases like “Climate Change” and “Environmental Justice.”
The vast majority of Cornell projects listed are ongoing. Only five of the 22 projects — or approximately four percent of the Cornell funding — have performance end dates preceding the date of publication. Roughly $18 million of the $18.7 million of listed NSF funding to Cornell projects corresponds with ongoing projects.
All but one of the NSF funding to Cornell projects are examples of project grants, funding that generally does not stipulate federal government involvement in the project beyond monitoring and oversight.
However, the highest NSF-funded Cornell project listed is an example of a cooperative agreement, which typically requires substantial involvement from the federal agency. With $9 million in funding, the project NSF I-Corps Hub (Track 1): Interior Northeast Region aims to connect innovators in rural and economically underserved areas to research institutions, workforce training and industry insights in order to develop impactful products and services. The award description states that a key proposed focus of the hub is “supporting the professional development of STEM researchers who are underrepresented minorities (URMs), including women, veterans, people of color, and people with disabilities.” The project is listed under the status, social justice, race and gender categories on the database.
The highest-funded project grant to Cornell on the database was the nearly $2 million awarded to EFRI BRAID: Rapid Contextual Learning in Resilient Autonomous Systems which works to advance neuromorphic computing, technology that mimics brain function to develop a decentralized, energy-efficient computing system. In addition to focusing on building new computational algorithms inspired by biological circuits, the project includes DEI strategies, K-12 partnerships, STEM teaching programs and outreach initiatives.
Cornell Media Relations told The Sun that University leadership was unable to comment on the inclusion of 22 Cornell projects on the database by time of publication.
Julia Senzon is a member of the Class of 2026 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She is the editor-in-chief of the 143rd Editorial Board and was the managing editor of the 142nd Editorial Board. She can be reached at jsenzon@cornellsun.com.
