Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center ends DEI programs

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center announced it will end its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs citing the Trump administration’s executive order on DEI and a fear the center could lose all of its federal grants.

An internal email obtained by KIRO Newsradio shows leadership at the cancer center told its staff Thursday to expect changes in “programs, policies, practices and educational opportunities” as it moves ahead with slashing all DEI efforts that could impact its eligibility for grants.

At stake is $400 million in federal funding, which the email said constitutes 70 percent of its yearly research budget.

“Without these funds now or in the future, it would create a significant and unsustainable impact on our programs and our people,” the email read. “Simply put, without federal funding, we can’t fulfill our mission.”

The email specifically cites President Donald Trump’s President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14173, which instructed his administration to cancel government contracts given for “equity-related” programs. While multiple lawsuits challenge Trump’s executive order and his broader push to withhold Congressionally approved funding on ideological grounds, cancer center leadership wrote it cannot wait for a legal resolution.

“We must take action now due to several significant federal grant applications that must be submitted to agencies that provide our sources of funding,” the email read.

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center is the latest entity to reverse course on D-E-I following the executive orders.

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