From: University Relations and Marketing
Dear OSU Community Members:
Oregon State University has joined 23 other U.S. research universities in filing an amicus brief supporting Harvard University’s lawsuit against the federal administration for freezing research funding based on alleged viewpoint discrimination.
As outlined in the brief, extensive federal research funding cuts to universities – such as those imperiling Harvard – threaten the decades-long partnership between government and research universities that has led to countless scientific and medical breakthroughs contributing to the prosperity, health and security of generations of Americans and people around the world.
As Oregon’s leading research university, OSU has played an important role in building coalitions with peer universities and others to advocate on behalf of the university’s mission and higher education as a whole. Last week, OSU filed declarations in two new lawsuits brought by multistate coalitions against the National Science Foundation. The suits, whose plaintiffs include the state of Oregon, challenge the NSF’s policy regarding a 15% cap on the reimbursement of indirect costs for new awards and also the agency’s termination of certain existing grants, including a number of awards to OSU principal investigators. These declarations follow one that OSU recently submitted in another court challenge to the NSF’s proposed 15% cap brought by Association of Public and Land-grant Universities and the Association of American Universities.
These filings are the latest in a series of legal actions that OSU has taken on a range of issues to advocate for OSU students and employees, including academic freedom and free expression, immigration, tariffs, research, gender-affirming health care and access to federal student loans. These actions emphasize the value of higher education and advance OSU’s land grant mission to promote economic, social, cultural and environmental progress for the people of Oregon, the nation and the world.
University leaders and subject-matter experts continue to monitor and respond to the evolving federal landscape while staying in regular contact with state and federal elected representatives and officials. OSU community members navigating immigration matters can find up-to-date information on a range of topics, including travel and visa concerns, on the Office of International Services website. OSU’s Division of Research and Innovation provides up-to-date information for principal investigators on its website. All academic faculty who receive stop-work orders or new federal grant certification requirements or who experience slow-downs in disbursement of funds should contact [email protected].
As we look forward to summer, we encourage all members of the OSU community to stay true to the university’s mission and values by remaining engaged and continuing to foster dialogue across a range of perspectives, experiences and views as we navigate these challenging times.
On behalf of the university,
Rob Odom, Vice President for University Relations and Marketing