A nonprofit organization in Boston has rejected a federal grant to avoid President Donald Trump’s tirade against diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
The non-profit 826 Boston, which offers free tutoring and writing programs to more than 3,000 students, turned down a $250,000 federal grant earlier this year, The Boston Globe reports. The grant was offered by Americorps, an independent agency that helps provide stipend volunteer work to nonprofits.
The decision was made after 826 Boston’s application was flagged for containing the words “diversity, equity and inclusion,” a phrase which Trump mandated his first day in office be removed from any organization hoping to get federal funding.
826 Boston’s board of directors voted unanimously to forgo the funding, the Globe reports.
“I was really proud of our board because in that circumstance, and in withdrawing the grant, it wasn’t a question of whether we should do it, it was how we should do it,” 826 Boston President Janet Tiampo told the Globe.
But now, the nonprofit is facing a massive hole in its budget — and can only afford to hire five tutors for the upcoming year.
“I’m not going to tell you it’s not scary. It is super scary,” Tiampo told the Globe adding that “$250,000 for our organization is a lot money.”
Americorps itself could be in trouble, too. Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency placed the agency’s leadership on leave last week, and put most staff members on administrative leave with pay.
AmeriCorps’ National Civilian Community Corps also told volunteers Tuesday that they would exit the program early “due to programmatic circumstances beyond your control.” The agency employs more than 200,00 volunteers across the country.
Corey Yarbrough, 826 Boston’s executive director, told the Globe that his organization couldn’t walk on eggshells and put its funding at risk if, for example, a student wanted to write an essay on historical oppression.
“We couldn’t live in that uncertainty,” Yarbrough told the Globe. “We wanted to take a bold stand, but we also wanted to be proactive and restructure on our own terms.”
As 826 Boston rejects Trump’s mandate against DEI programs, other institutions are falling in line — particularly dozens of colleges across the country.
Trump’s administration has frozen $2.2 billion in funding for Harvard University, which has taken a stand against control by the president. Federal officials have made several demands of the private school, including ordering leaders to immediately end all DEI programs. The school has sued in response, saying the order threatens its free speech rights.
The University of Michigan, once a flagship of DEI efforts, closed its Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the Office for Health Equity and Inclusion last month. The public school cited “recent federal executive orders.”
Case Western Reserve University, a private school in Cleveland, similarly shuttered its DEI office in late March. University President Eric Kaler also cited Trump’s executive orders in his announcement.
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