President Donald Trump holds a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, on Feb. 26, 2025.
It appears Elon Musk KILED THE DEAL in regards to Stanford completing the purchase of Notre Dame de Namur University’s 102-year-old historic Belmont campus. In the cuts to USAID, Musk chipped important research programs, the kind Stanford would conduct in Belmont.
John Presco
In a separate news release issued on Wednesday, the university announced a staff hiring freeze due to concerns about possible cuts to research funding and increased taxes on the university’s endowment.
In 1887, a laboratory for the study of bacteria, the Hygienic Laboratory, was established within the Marine Hospital Service, which at the time was expanding its functions beyond the system of Marine Hospitals into quarantine and research programs. It was initially located at the New York Marine Hospital on Staten Island.[7][8][9] In 1891, it moved to the top floor of the Butler Building in Washington, D.C. In 1904, it moved again to a new campus at the Old Naval Observatory, which grew to include five major buildings.[10]
In 1901, the Division of Scientific Research was formed, which included the Hygienic Laboratory as well as other research offices of the Marine Hospital Service.[11] In 1912, the Marine Hospital Service became the Public Health Service (PHS).[9] In 1922, PHS established a Special Cancer Investigations laboratory at Harvard Medical School. This development marked the beginning of partnerships with universities.[9]
February 26th, 2025Institutional News
An update on staff hiring
Dear Stanford community,
We are in the process of developing Stanford’s budget for the 2025-26 academic year. This work is occurring as potential financial uncertainties are mounting for universities across the United States.
Most recently, as you know, the National Institutes of Health sought to dramatically reduce the payments it makes to universities for the indirect costs associated with research. Though this is currently under review by the courts, a cut of this magnitude would have a significant negative budget impact at Stanford. There is also uncertainty about the level of direct federal funding for scientific research as agencies like NIH and NSF face cuts.
In addition, there are Congressional proposals to expand the current endowment tax paid by universities including Stanford. This too would negatively affect Stanford’s finances, because the annual payout from the endowment forms a crucial part of our yearly budget. In particular, the endowment supports roughly two-thirds of the budget for undergraduate and graduate financial aid, as well as a significant portion of faculty salaries, research, and key programs like libraries and student services. Taken together, these are very significant risks to the university.
We have more work to do on our next budget, and we will learn more in the coming months about the outcomes of the various federal policy proposals. Given the uncertainty, we need to take prudent steps to limit spending and ensure that we have flexibility and resilience.
To better prepare us to meet these challenges, we are implementing a freeze on staff hiring in the university. Critically needed positions may be approved by the cognizant dean, vice president, or vice provost, though these situations should be limited. Similarly, hiring may continue for positions that are fully funded through externally-sponsored research awards; please confirm these hires with the cognizant dean’s office. The freeze does not apply to faculty positions, contingent employees (temporary and casual), or student workers.
We will be in further touch as the budget for next year develops. In the meantime, we do urge that new financial commitments be given careful consideration in the current environment.
Stanford is a financially healthy and resilient institution, and prudent planning now will enable us to best support our students, the research of our faculty, and the dedicated and talented staff who support our mission.
Thank you for all you do to support and advance the work of Stanford.
Uncertainty grows for 102-year-old California university campus
By Kasia Pawlowska,Local EditorUpdated Feb 27, 2025 3:01 p.m.
After nearly four years of negotiations, Stanford University has decided not to proceed with the purchase of Notre Dame de Namur University’s 102-year-old historic Belmont campus. In a statement released on Tuesday, Stanford cited “greater uncertainties and a different set of institutional and financial challenges” since it first began exploring a purchase as key reasons for stepping away from the agreement.
In a separate news release issued on Wednesday, the university announced a staff hiring freeze due to concerns about possible cuts to research funding and increased taxes on the university’s endowment.
Even though Stanford has elected not to move forward with the purchase, it emphasized its ongoing support for the Belmont community, pledging financial assistance for local schools, transportation projects and renewing the Barrett Community Center.
In response, NDNU President Beth Martin reaffirmed the university’s dedication to finding a new buyer “who will preserve and honor the historical significance of this beautiful campus and continue to serve the community-oriented mission.”
Founded in 1851 by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, NDNU is California’s third oldest college and the first in the state allowed to give baccalaureate degrees to women. The future of its 46-acre Belmont property, including the historic Ralston Hall Mansion, remains uncertain. NDNU stated that it is actively working with local stakeholders to explore future options. Meanwhile, the university will continue to operate as an independent, nonprofit Catholic university.
NIH partially lifts freeze on funding process for medical research
February 26, 20256:41 PM ET
People protested funding cuts to research institutions at the University of Chicago last week.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
The Trump administration has partially lifted a hold that had frozen ability of the National Institutes of Health to review new grant applications for research into diseases ranging from heart disease and COVID to Alzheimer’s and allergies.
The freeze occurred because the Trump administration had blocked the NIH from posting any new notices in the Federal Register, which is required before many federal meetings can be held. The stoppage forced the agency to cancel meetings to review thousands of grant applications.
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Federal judge hears arguments to decide the future of Trump’s federal funding freeze
The meeting freeze had stalled about 16,000 grant applications vying for around $1.5 billion in NIH funding, according to one person who is familiar with the grant-making process who did not want to be identified because of fear of retribution.
But on Wednesday the NIH released a statement saying the agency could now “begin sending notices incrementally to the Office of the Federal Register to advertise meetings of scientific review groups/study sections and begin their resumption.” The agency planned to submit Federal Register Notices for the next 50 meetings, according to the statement. That will allow for the first phase of grant application reviews to start to resume.
But Federal Register notices for other types of meetings remain “on hold,” which means the later stages of grant review remain frozen.
With an annual budget of nearly $48 billion, the NIH is the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world. The freeze sent shock waves through universities, hospitals, medical schools and other institutions that depend on NIH funding.
All requests for NIH grants go through an intensive review process. That process keeps NIH funding flowing to more than 300,000 researchers at more than 2,500 universities, medical schools and other institutions.
Education
What National Institutes of Health funding cuts could mean for U.S. universities
Soon after Trump was inaugurated, the federal government froze all grants, including NIH grants. But that freeze was temporarily blocked by a federal judge.
Some researchers suspected the NIH’s Federal Register freeze was an attempt to circumvent that ruling. But others disputed dispute that interpretation.
The NIH is among federal agencies still reeling from staff cuts. The NIH has lost about 1,200 people so far. At the same time, the Trump administration is trying to cap the rate at which the NIH pays for the indirect costs of doing medical research at 15%, which is far lower than the rate that has been paid at many institutions. Scientists say it could cripple medical research. A federal judge in Boston is deciding whether the cap can go forward.
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