The Trump administration abruptly cut off funding for a NASA program aimed at inspiring historically marginalized students, including those at Kutztown University, to pursue STEM careers.
The Berks County university was one of eight higher-ed institutions across the country selected for the Here to Observe program in 2024, which gave undergraduate students the chance to watch and interact with NASA’s Planetary Science Division teams.
Here to Observe started as a pilot in 2021 and became a full initiative two years ago. Kutztown was awarded a five-year, $375,000 grant from NASA for it in September.
But the program’s focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion ultimately landed it on the Trump administration’s chopping block.
Since President Donald Trump took office, the administration has gutted programs and funds that mention DEI while also attempting, and in some cases succeeding, to freeze already budgeted funding.
Meanwhile, NASA has removed information about Here to Observe from its website, a move that echoes other purges on the sites of health agencies like the CDC.
Erin Kraal, a physical sciences professor and faculty director for the Center for Engaged Learning at Kutztown, said the university was told three days after Trump was inaugurated that Here to Observe included DEI initiatives and would be frozen. Then, on Feb. 7, Kutztown’s grant was put “on hold until further notice,” and no work could be conducted, she said.
On March 23, the university was informed the grant was “terminated,” Kraal said. They’re currently appealing the decision.
Fourteen students were initially selected for the program last year and spent time learning about Mars and the mission of the Perseverance Rover, Kraal said.
In the program, students from underrepresented groups are paired with scientists running NASA missions. Kutztown students said they met with mentors, learned about the scientists’ roles on the project, discussed career paths, and interacted with top NASA scientists.
While DEI has recently become a focal point in national political discourse, its roots are decades in the making, said Domingo Morel, an associate professor of political science and public service at New York University.
“For a very long time in this country, colleges and universities were not accessible to many people, including women, people of color and poor people altogether,” he said. “It took special efforts for universities to open up opportunities for those who have been excluded for a long time. DEI has its roots in those types of programs.”
Most of the students are first-year students who jumped at the opportunity, Kraal said.
“So it's very disappointing to lose the opportunity to attend your first professional meeting, to lose the stipends you were expecting for the work that you did and to not know if you're going to be part of a program to go forward,” she said. “One of the students said, when we had to tell them, ‘We're not going to be the last students here that do this, are we?’”
Kutztown is the only college or university in Pennsylvania that was part of the NASA program. While Penn State University students can access other scholarships through the Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium, officials there said the federal cuts have not impacted those funds.
Impact to students
The abrupt shift has left the 14 Kutztown students enrolled in the NASA program in limbo.
Kraal said they had already begun work during the first semester last year and were prepared to attend a meeting of planetary scientists in Houston in March. The professional gathering assembles researchers and workers from across the world together to present their studies, network, and stay up to date on the latest developments in the field.
Kutztown students would also have received a stipend at the end of Here to Observe, Kraal said.
The program also gave undergraduate students the chance to join the scientific community and interact with the Perseverance Rover team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. These professional interactions were intended to boost student retention in STEM and immerse them in Mars science, mission design, and scientific ethics.
The conference in Houston would have allowed them to collaborate with their mentors, attend science talks, and visit the Johnson Space Center, activities that all were supported by the grant funding.
These kinds of opportunities are important for women and people of color, groups that are underrepresented in STEM. Over the past decade, the number of STEM degrees awarded to both groups has grown.
The university did not provide demographic data on STEM degree recipients, but more people of color and women have received STEM degrees across the country since 2011, with the most significant growth in the Hispanic population as well as those who identify with two or more races.
General enrollment data for Kutztown shows the university had 6,420 undergraduate students enrolled for the fall 2023 semester. Nearly 72% of the student population is white, with 12.3% identifying as Hispanic, 6.8% as African American, 3.6% as two or more races, and 2% as Asian.
Bailey Gimbor, a junior who responded in writing to questions from Spotlight PA, said he saw the program as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” The Bernville native said he is a physics engineering major and astrophysics minor.
“It seemed to be a great learning opportunity for me and a chance to gain some insight on what my workplace might look like in the future,” Gimbor said.
Kutztown freshman Maria Clark, who jumped at the opportunity to immerse herself in the international science world, wrote in response to questions from Spotlight PA that the few students who joined the program reaped the benefits.
“But I feel for all the students it could have helped in the following years who won’t get the opportunity,” she said. “The program being shut down is a huge loss, but we were still able to gain many invaluable experiences. I'm very worried with the direction we could be headed because I know there's a lot to lose.”
Future of Kutztown program
While states across the country have filed lawsuits against the Trump administration for freezing budgeted funds, Kutztown officials don’t know when a decision will be made on their appeal of the grant cancellation.
“Any work we continue to do is supported only by Kutztown University,” Kraal said.
NASA officials did not respond to emails or calls seeking comment for this story.
Experts on the STEM workforce say diversity improves problem-solving and innovation because it broadens the labor pool.
“You see a lot of countries seeing the benefit of a more diverse scientific workforce, and you see a lot of countries trying to attract greater diversity into their country,” said Travis York, director of the Center for STEMM Education and Workforce at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. “We have the most diverse country in the world, and America has that, I would argue, as a competitive advantage.”
The rural location of Kutztown's Here to Observe was also important, York said. It offered a pathway for students from low- and middle-income families to enter STEM and potentially remain in the community after graduation.
Plus, he added, the STEM fields need more people across the board, and Here to Observe helped increase opportunities for everyone.
“There's not a zero-sum game here. We're not trying to take opportunities away from some people to give them to others. We have more need than people to fill the need,” York said. “It's not decreasing for anyone, and I think that's one of the things that's been most mischaracterized around current discussions about equity and inclusion.”
So far, Here to Observe is the only grant Kutztown received from the federal government that has been halted. University spokesperson Bryan Salvadore said no other grants have been impacted.
“We continue to monitor the status of our grant funding and will work to determine ways to enhance the classroom experience for our students,” he said.
The student stipends and faculty work will go unpaid by NASA, she said, and the travel for the Houston conference was canceled at no cost. Most of the grant activities that required funding were for the spring and summer, so Kutztown drew only about $1,500 from the $75,000 first-year grant, Kraal added.
“This means KU will lose nearly the entire yearly amount and has absorbed the costs of continuing to support the student experience since they are enrolled in a one-credit course,” Kraal said. “We hope that NASA will support workforce programs, such as the H2O program, because they provide critical opportunities to support STEM students at institutions that focus on undergraduates, like Kutztown University.”
As disappointing as the abrupt cancellation is, Clark said students will persevere, just like they did through changes in schooling during the pandemic.
“It was rough, but I think this generation was able to pivot through that,” she said. “And while this is entirely different, I think we’ll be able to make the best out of this as well.”
