Update on State and Federal Grants

February 4, 2025

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to share a recent message from President Davidson regarding the rapidly shifting federal terrain and our responses – please see below.  I want you to know that we are closely monitoring federal policies and regulations for any impact on our mission.  Most recently, President Davidson assembled academic affairs leadership to initiate a coordinated effort between our legislative affairs office, colleges, schools, and departments to assess the scope and status of all current federal and state grants.  As you are likely aware, funds cannot currently legally be held based on recent executive orders, however we are preparing for all possibilities.

Please be advised that any “stop work” order should be considered a rumor unless communicated directly by President Davidson or myself.  We hope you can stay focused on your critical work and our university mission.  We will notify you if any official action is required.  If you receive a directive related to federal grants and are uncertain about its validity or source, please reach out to the Provost’s Office and/or the Office of General Counsel for clarification. We are here to provide guidance and ensure our community remains informed without unnecessary burden.

Sincerely,

Matt

Matthew S. Makley, PhD

Interim Provost & Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs

Metropolitan State University of Denver

Campus Box 48, PO Box 173362| Denver, CO 80217-3362

303.605.5853 (office)

From: Janine A Davidson
Sent: Monday, February 3, 2025
To: Senior Executive Team
Subject: My Mind This Week: the war room

“You can’t wring your hands and roll up your sleeves at the same time.”  Pat Schroeder, former U.S. Congresswoman from Colorado

Dear Roadrunner Leaders,

Wow, what a week!  We executed an outstanding set of board meetings, while simultaneously dealing with the barrage of alarming White House executive orders and headlines, from immigration and deportation to grant funding freezes.  Acknowledging that this was an unusually disorienting and challenging week for so many of us, I could not be prouder of how we rallied as a team of leaders to face these challenges and responsibilities.

Our weeks of preparation and outreach to trustees really paid off.  Trustees were impressed by the briefings and presentations along with supporting read ahead materials; and they reported feeling more prepared than ever for the discussions and votes.

For those watching the meetings, it looked all too easy.  But that level of understanding and informed dialogue does not Just Happen.  So thank you! to all the planners and the briefers who made the 2 days run as smoothly as possible.

These included our planning and execution team, David Fine, Ed Brown, Meredith Jeffers, Mel Olivarez, David Sharman.

And our briefers: Will Simpkins, Jim Carpenter, Liza Larsen, Andrew Rauch, Larry Sampler, Meredith Jeffers, Buffy Ribble, Lynn Minnaert, Shaun Schafer, Kaycee Gerhart, Shelley Thompson, Todd Thurman, Amanda Jo Erven, Long Huynh, and Matt Makley along with all those who helped them to be so prepared.

My Mind This Week is about the War Room,  where we will organize ourselves for the challenges ahead. No matter your politics or who you voted for, as Roadrunners we have work to do. The executive orders coming from DC will affect our university in potentially negative ways. Deportations and changes to immigration policy are already traumatizing parts of our community, while the freezing of grant funding will have an immediate impact that will potentially ripple into the months (and years) to come. Our role in these uncertain times is to focus on taking care of our community and leaning into our role as educators and leaders.

As I said in my Board remarks, we will:

• Focus on our CADRE values as our North Star,
• Get all of us on one side and the challenges on the other,
• Control our controllables, and
• Get to work.

We are already putting our shoulders to the wheel to help each other and modeling MSU Denver at our very best – from our info sessions on immigration policy to our war-room efforts led by Kaycee Gerhart, where we are getting the facts and data on the table.  This is how we will make calm thoughtful and informed decisions.  It is how we will approach the weeks ahead.

So, thank you all for your leadership and your teamwork as we move into 2025. Remain focused on our mission.  Stay brilliant.

And breathe.

Janine Davidson, Ph.D.
President