Boston College professors pushed back on a report by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz that claims National Science Foundation (NSF) grants awarded to them promote “woke” diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives or “neo-Marxist” propaganda.
“These grants all went through a vigorous vetting process involving multiple reviews by independent scientists and are judged on their scientific and technological value,” Kenneth Burch, chair of the physics department and a recipient of one of the grants listed in the report, wrote in a statement to The Heights. “It was clear from looking over the grants that it was not the result of an investigation but rather a list compiled by searching for certain words: ‘diversity’, ‘bias’, etc.”
Cruz, chair of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee, released the report on Feb. 11, alleging that over $2 billion in NSF funding—approximately 3,400 grants—awarded under the Biden-Harris administration was directed toward projects promoting DEI or woke Marxist rhetoric.
“This funding was diverted toward questionable projects that promoted Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) or advanced neo-Marxist class warfare propaganda,” a Commerce Committee press release stated.
Cruz’s report came amid the Trump Administration’s attempt to pause the approval and distribution of NSF grants.
Five of the flagged grants were awarded to BC researchers from a variety of fields.
BC researchers contend that their research was flagged solely on keyword searches of buzzwords associated with “wokeness”.
“My hunch is that somebody searched NSF abstracts for particular words,” said Ethan Baxter, professor of earth and environmental sciences and associate dean for STEM disciplines, whose grant was listed in the report. “[In my research abstract], I believe the words that were caught were ‘women’ and ‘underrepresented minorities.’ That’s why I think it was flagged.”
According to both Baxter and the NSF website, the NSF has a rigorous and selective process for approving grants.
“The success rate at NSF varies widely from program to program, anywhere from 5 percent success up to 25 percent success,” Baxter said.
Baxter described the extensive review process required for funding approval, which typically begins with a 15-page proposal submitted to the NSF. Proposals undergo anonymous peer review by experts in the field, followed by further evaluation by a panel of scientists.
“You submit [a] 15-page proposal, and then the NSF sends your proposal out for review by peers in the scientific community, and it’s all anonymous, so I will never know who was reading my proposal,” Baxter said. “NSF works hard to make sure that the people who are doing the reviewing don’t have a conflict of interest.”
After three to six peer experts review a research proposal and provide feedback to the NSF, the agency convenes another panel of experts for an additional round of evaluation before making a final decision on approving funding.
Burch emphasized his research’s scientific value and firmly rejected Cruz’s accusations.
“The focus of the research is on understanding the novel electronic properties of the topological superconductor FeTeSe,” Burch wrote. “All money spent is towards that goal.“
Baxter also countered the senator’s claims, clarifying that the focus of his research is on the crystallization and growth of metamorphic rocks, not neo-Marxism.
“[My research is] meant to study the mechanisms that govern the nucleation and the growth of crystals in metamorphic rocks,” Baxter said. “ These are rocks that are being cooked, pressurized, heated deep in the earth during tectonic processes like mountain building or subduction, and very slowly, certain crystals, like garnets, grow.”
As part of his research, Baxter produces a YouTube series called “Every Rock Has a Story” to engage and inspire elementary school children about earth sciences. Each episode features different children exploring various aspects of the field.
In one episode related to his flagged research, Baxter hosted Stephanie Walker, former director of BC’s Center for Isotope Geochemistry, and a local elementary student named Eric.
“[In the episode] we basically talk about how we date garnets in our lab, and go all through the lab, meet 15 different people that are working in the lab from all over the country who come to work there,” Baxter said.
Baxter speculated that including terms like “women” and “minorities” in his research abstract for the series may have caught the senator’s attention.
“Storytellers will include co-PI Baxter, as well as other team members, including women and underrepresented minorities,” the NSF grant description reads.
Baxter said that if this portion of the research description caused his grant to be flagged, he stood by his work.
“If wanting to have a completely broad and representative swath of geoscientists that represent the population of our country—if that’s diversity, equity, and inclusion—then I’m absolutely doing that, and I’m proud to be doing that,” Baxter said.
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