The U.S. Department of Agriculture has temporarily paused the more than $100 million it provides to the University of Maine system, amid an investigation into the system’s compliance with the federal gender-equity law Title IX.
In a news release Tuesday, Maine system leaders said they were forwarded an email Monday that appeared to have been sent by the office of the chief financial officer at USDA. The message told agencies within the USDA to stop dispensing funds to Columbia University and to the Maine system while the agency considered taking action on potential Title VI and Title IX violations.
The Trump administration on Friday said it was immediately canceling $400 million in federal support for Columbia, over concerns that it allowed an antisemitic environment to persist on campus following the outbreak of war in Gaza and subsequent protests.
USDA funding, the Maine system said in its news release, supports research into impacts of synthetic chemicals known as PFAS; potato and salmon breeding efforts; 4-H programs for kids and teens, and more. Maine’s flagship in Orono received almost $30 million from USDA during the 2024 fiscal year. The University of Southern Maine also has several active grants, according to the system. A university spokesperson declined to comment further.
The Maine situation is quite different from Columbia. In February, the USDA told the university system it was initiating an investigation based on indications that the state was “openly disregarding” President Trump’s executive order barring the participation of transgender girls and women in girls’ and women’s sports. But that notice did not allege any specific infractions at the university, and the university has maintained that it is compliant with Title IX and with National Collegiate Athletic Association policies, which were updated in response to Trump’s order.
Instead, the targeting of the University of Maine system, experts told The Chronicle, appears to stem from a tense interaction between the Democratic governor of Maine, Janet Mills, and President Trump at the White House last month. Mills swore not to follow Trump’s executive order on transgender athletes — which does not carry the force of law — because it did not align with state law.
Columbia officials, meanwhile, have said they are taking the announcement of their canceled funding seriously. Affected grants include a $1.1-million Food and Drug Administration grant to study the effects of exposure to opioids on preterm infants, and a $1.1-million NIH grant related to the possible development of a malaria vaccine, The Chronicle previously reported.
Typically, the Education Department leads reviews into colleges based on alleged violations of civil-rights laws. That department is investigating the Maine Department of Education and a Maine school district for allegedly allowing transgender girls to play on girls’ sports teams and use female-only facilities.
Scott Schneider, a higher-education lawyer, told The Chronicle in a recent interview that the Trump administration’s decision to choose the USDA as the investigator, as opposed to the Education Department, points to a strategy of using all available venues to compel higher-education institutions to get in line with Trump’s directives. (As these investigations move forward, the Trump administration is also aiming to shutter the Education Department or at least dramatically shrink it, if Congress doesn’t sign off.)
The Maine system, Schneider added, may ask a court to intervene.
“What will Maine’s approach be here?” Schneider said. “And if it’s litigation, and if they’re successful, that may signal an approach for schools who are struggling with the Title VI guidance as well.”
