St. Thomas loses grant to bolster state’s teacher supply after Trump labels it a ‘DEI initiative’

A multimillion-dollar federal grant to the University of St. Thomas, intended to develop future teachers, was canceled last week after the Trump administration deemed it was related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

The St. Paul university’s School of Education received the $6.8 million grant in 2023. The three-year grant provides $10,000 scholarships to graduate students pursuing their teaching licensure and stipends to undergraduates while they’re student teaching in special education and elementary education.

“Our reaction was deep disappointment because, in the end this isn’t about funding for St. Thomas, it’s about funding for 185 men and women who are committed to becoming teachers in some of our most high need areas,” University of St. Thomas President Rob Vischer said in an interview Thursday. “We were surprised that this was canceled. We don’t view it as a DEI initiative — we view it as a straight pipeline development initiative."

In January, President Donald Trump issued a sweeping executive order ending DEI programs across the U.S. government and has since been making rapid-fire cuts to reduce federal spending.

There’s a “glaring need” for these types of teachers across the state, Vischer said. Losing the grant is a loss to the students pursuing teaching, he said, and will also be detrimental to communities across the state for years to come.

When applying for the grant, the Biden administration required universities to explain how the funding would affect diversity in the teaching profession, “which we, of course, did,” Vischer said.

“And we are proud of our progress preparing teachers [of all races] to work in high-need schools,” he said in a release.

The scholarships are open to students regardless of race or ethnicity, he added. He said St. Thomas is exploring options for appealing the cancellation and bringing the grant “into compliance,” he said.

U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., has said she wants to challenge the grant’s cancellation in Washington.

“This decision is outrageous and is hurting students who rely on these scholarships for school,” Smith said in a statement. “The Trump administration is pulling critical funding from future special education teachers — not because of waste or fraud, but because they’re trying to scrape together money to pay for massive tax cuts for millionaires and big corporations."

She hopes Republicans will fix the situation, she said.

Vischer said that St. Thomas may have more federal grants canceled, and that the institution will comply with the law. But the school’s values won’t change, he said. The school must also do everything it can to empower students to flourish throughout their life, he added.

“Our foundational values as a Catholic university compel us to ensure that every student who sets foot on our campus has a strong sense of belonging and that we meet them where they’re at,” he said.