Oswego State remains mostly unaffected by President Donald Trump’s cuts to the Department of Education, but concerns remain as administrators attempt to shield schools from recent federal changes.

Oswego’s international students and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives remain unaffected unlike many universities, though faculty research may be impacted by funding cuts at the National Institutes for Health.

Those cuts were immediately contested by 22 states including New York, with support from the State University of New York (SUNY) and its chancellor, John King Jr., according to a press release.

Much like Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state government, King has positioned SUNY in opposition to Trump, with SUNY schools, including Oswego, following suit.

“SUNY Oswego operations remain consistent—we continue to uphold SUNY’s mission,” wrote Laura Spenceley, dean of the College of Education, Health and Human Services in an email.

Peter Ghazarian, an associate professor and program coordinator teaching higher education leadership, voiced worries for the future of education.

“Cuts to federal support don’t just reduce budgets—they send signals about what is supposed to matter,” Ghazarian wrote. “And when education, inclusion, or equity are deprioritized, our students need to be prepared not only to respond, but to lead with clarity and conviction.”

Ghazarian also assuaged fears about funding impacts at Oswego on the scale of those at research-intensive, R1 campuses, such as SUNY’s Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo and Stony Brook campuses and private universities such as Columbia, Cornell and Harvard.

But Oswego still faces other risks.

Earlier this month, the Trump administration demanded public schools eliminate all DEI initiatives or face the withdrawal of federal funding. 

Previous efforts by the administration to crack down on DEI programs have affected public universities in other states, such as North Carolina, where DEI-related classes are no longer a degree requirement.

Oswego State still requires courses in world awareness and DEI for all undergraduate degrees, however, according to the college website. The Office of Diversity and Inclusion features prominently on campus as well.

Federal threats to these initiatives are another of Ghazarian’s concerns.

“I have seen and heard how these policies help prepare our undergraduate students to understand and actively contribute to a diversifying world,” he wrote. “DEI policies don’t solve everything, but they signal that inclusion isn’t peripheral—it’s part of our mission.”

Ghazarian believes that absent those policies, this type of education would continue, but on an individual level rather than an institutional one.

The Trump administration’s threats to both DEI and research funding also underline broader fears about public education. Following the Department of Government Efficiency’s elimination of more than 100 Education Department contracts and grants in February, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) described the efforts as killing the “American Dream.”

Ghazarian has similarly identified Trump’s overall attitude towards public education as an existential threat. “When federal leaders suggest dismantling the Department of Education, or when DEI efforts are portrayed as divisive rather than unifying, it suggests a fundamental shift in how we define the public good.”

According to Ghazarian, “Public higher education exists to serve a diverse population, to foster civic engagement and to create pathways to social mobility,” and undermining those goals erodes not only educational institutions such as SUNY, and Oswego specifically, but trust in education as a force for good.

But even if the future of public education remains uncertain, SUNY remains committed to their mission.

“We’re not going to back down from fighting for what is right, whether that’s on Capitol Hill or in the courts,” said Kapil Longani, SUNY’s senior vice chancellor and general counsel, in an interview last month. “SUNY is going to continue to fight this fight.”

Image by Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons