Good morning, and welcome to Wednesday, March 12. Rick Seltzer wrote today’s Briefing. Julia Piper compiled Comings and Goings. Get in touch: dailybriefing@chronicle.com.

More federal funding on the line

Fresh off of pulling grant funding from Columbia University over antisemitism allegations, the Trump administration is closing its checkbook because of a culture-war issue elsewhere.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture froze funding to the University of Maine system. A system spokesperson announced the move Tuesday morning, though the system said it first received word on Monday.

That puts $100 million in federal support in limbo. The money goes to a variety of projects including 4-H programs and research, the Portland Press Herald reported.

The Trump administration told the system it’s reviewing “actions related to prospective Title VI or Title IX violations,” according to the system’s account. The first is the federal civil-rights law banning discrimination on the basis of race or national origin. The second is the education law barring sex-based discrimination.

• The USDA announced a Title IX compliance review in February. The system maintains that it provided timely responses to a series of questions “largely focused on whether biological males could compete on women’s sports teams.”

This all unfolds in the shadows of a blowup between Trump and Maine Gov. Janet Mills over transgender athletes. Trump threatened to cut Maine’s federal funding last month because the state didn’t ban transgender athletes from girls’ sports. “We’ll see you in court,” Mills replied. Four days later, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said that the state was violating Title IX.

• The University of Maine system maintains that its sports programs comply with federal and state laws, and that it follows updated NCAA policies that don’t allow varsity athletes into women’s sports if they were designated male at birth.

It’s impossible not to compare this situation to the one at Columbia University. The Trump administration canceled $400 million in grants at the Ivy League institution over the weekend, citing allegations of antisemitism on campus. Immigration officials also arrested a former grad student who’d played a prominent role in last spring’s protests. On Tuesday, the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt accused Columbia of refusing to help immigration officials identify people on campus who’ve “engaged in pro-Hamas activity.” Columbia has said law-enforcement officers must have a judicial warrant to enter non-public university areas.

But the situations are notably different. Columbia is one of the wealthiest and most selective private universities in the country, while Maine’s public system has faced resource constraints and enrollment declines for years. Plus:

• Maine has an established leader with political experience: Since 2019, the university system has been led by Chancellor Dannel Malloy, a Democrat who was governor of Connecticut for eight years starting in 2011. Columbia’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong, led its medical school until August, when Minouche Shafik suddenly resigned from the presidency.
• The public system has shown more political acumen: The Maine system quickly posted a lengthy description of its interactions with the federal government leading up to the funding freeze, and noted several constituencies that could be affected, including “farmers, fishermen and foresters.” On Monday, Columbia’s interim president wrote that “We are taking a methodical and thoughtful approach to addressing the multitude of challenges ahead of us.”

The bigger questions: How much collateral damage is done by cutting USDA funding because of a disagreement about sports? Who’s next in line as the feds use funding as financial leverage and political retribution? Will these actions hold up over time, or is the administration getting out over its skis?

📱 For more from The Chronicle: Trump Administration Pauses $100 Million in Funding to U. of Maine System

Quick hits

• U.S. Department of Education halves its work force: A reduction in force announced on Tuesday is the largest move yet toward President Trump’s stated goal of eliminating the Education Department, cutting the agency to 2,183 employees, down from 4,133 at the beginning of the new administration. That includes about 600 people who took early resignation and retirement offers. The administration promised to continue all department programs required by law, including formula funding, federal student loans, Pell Grants, funding for special-needs students, and competitive grants. A top Democrat alleged that the firings are illegal and “unilaterally steal dollars promised to students.” (The Chronicle, Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro)
• DEI injunction applies across executive branch: A federal judge in Maryland on Monday specified the scope of a preliminary injunction that temporary blocked President Trump’s January executive orders targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion while a court challenge moves forward. The injunction does in fact apply across federal agencies, departments, and commissions, as well as to those who work for them. (U.S. District Court, The Chronicle)
• High-income students at high-wealth colleges pay more: Net college prices have been falling for the last five to 10 years for almost all students, after adjusting for inflation, a new analysis concludes. High-income students at private institutions with very large endowments are the only exception. (Brookings)
• Forget early decision. How about late decision? Bennington College, a selective liberal-arts institution in Vermont, on Monday opened a “Late Decision” application round that lasts until April 8, hoping to land 15 commitments from students who aren’t satisfied with their other college options. Officials plan to send out admissions offers nine days later and ask students to reply by May 1. Bennington also runs early action and early decision cycles, both of which posted 37-percent acceptance rates. (Bennington College, The Chronicle)
• AI summaries come to research service: The publisher Elsevier is unveiling today a generative artificial-intelligence tool for its ScienceDirect platform of peer-reviewed research, casting the feature as a way to “extract, summarize and compare” articles and book chapters. The tool was built to “reduce the risk of hallucinations and biases,” according to a news release. (Elsevier)

Quote of the day

“There’s really little wiggle room with how we can use the endowment.”

— Elizabeth Davis, president of Furman University, in South Carolina

Furman’s president is concerned her institution could have to pay the endowment tax, given Republican proposals to expand it. Much of Furman’s endowment is restricted, meaning officials can’t easily shift spending to ensure funding for their priorities isn’t limited by increased taxes.

• Just $3.4 million of Furman’s $30.7-million endowment draw was unrestricted this year.

📱 Read the full story: Plans to Hike the College-Endowment Tax Are Taking Shape. They’re Not What You’d Expect.

Stat of the day

4 percent

That’s how much weekly hours worked fell during the pandemic pause on student-loan repayments, according to a new National Bureau of Economic Research working paper examining data from a 10-month period during the pause. The dip is the equivalent of 1.34 hours per week.

Declines were concentrated among those who didn’t finish college degrees, supporting the long-running conclusion that student-loan debt largely taxes the finances of those who don’t get the earnings bump associated with completing college.

Comings and goings

• Dean Pribbenow, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty at Elmhurst University, has been named president of Millikin University.
• Jessica Lang, dean of the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences at City University of New York Bernard M. Baruch College, has been named the inaugural dean of arts and sciences at Fordham University.
• Jeremy C. Young, director of state and higher-education policy at PEN America, has stepped down.
• Kimberly R. Moffitt, dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences and a professor of language, literacy, and culture at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, has been named dean of the Cathy Hughes School of Communications at Howard University.

To submit a new-hire announcement, email people@chronicle.com.

Footnote

College football’s boosters may think the competition, traditions, and school spirit make the sport almost paradise. But in somebody’s eyes, numerous downsides are competing to be the worst thing about the Saturday extravaganzas.

There’s the unfair playing field that’s had big-money programs paying to beat up on small institutions. The serious injury risks to the players. The shameless corporate preening. The animals paraded as mascots before thousands of people. The abuse scandals. The surge of gambling and related harassment of athletes.

Holding out for a hero to fix the game? Fear not, one major program’s head coach has identified the real problem underlying college football’s cultural woes: dancing.

Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia University’s newly hired retread football coach, said he’s banning his football players from dancing on TikTok.

“We try to have a hard edge, whatever, and you’re in your tights dancing on TikTok,” Rodriguez said, according to Men’s Journal. “It ain’t quite the image of our program that I want.”

Let’s hear it for the boy. Lest you think Rodriguez is being too restrictive, know that he has no problem with former players dancing in the sheets.

“Twenty years from now if they want to be sitting in their pajamas in their basement eating Cheetos and watching TikTok, whatever the hell,” Rodriguez continued. “They can go at it. Smoking cannabis, whatever. I mean, knock yourself out. I hope our focus can be on winning football games. How about let’s win the football game and not worry about winning the TikTok.”

I’m free to say that heaven helps the man who helps his team avoid the scourge of the “Renegade” and “All About Cake” choreography. The ban on dancing will surely have Rodriquez’s team ready to play fast and footloose.