Jennifer Shields, a graduate student at Cleveland State University, was driving home when she learned that decisions being made in Washington might destroy her dream of becoming a teacher.

“I had to stop my car because I could not believe it,” she said. “It was like a ton of bricks hit me in the face.”

Shields is enrolled in Levin College's urban teacher residency program called the Urban Network for Innovation and Teacher Education (UNITE). 

On Feb. 17, the federal government issued a stop work order halting funding for grants supporting UNITE. The order was part of the evisceration of the federal government that the Trump administration and DOGE chief Elon Musk are carrying out.

Another student impacted was Alanis Schutlz, a CSU senior and a middle childhood education major. She received word of the stop work order through email. "Not to be dramatic, but I literally cried.” 

UNITE is designed to support future educators who want to work in urban districts, such as Cleveland. Levin's Terri Purcell, Ph.D., oversees the program.

“We felt this was such an important project because many of our students who would go into urban districts had some reservations,” Dr. Purcell said. “It was never positive news, so we wanted to change the narrative about urban schools and better align the way we support teachers to have a smoother transition.” 

The federal stop work order followed a slew of executive orders Trump has issued since assuming the presidency, many of which were aimed at the Department of Education. The withdrawn grant affected 30 students in UNITE.

Purcell said she received a letter from the federal government on the evening of Monday, Feb. 17, but did not read it until the next morning. 

“We had been hearing all of this chatter around DEI and concerns related to discriminatory practices,” she said, “but I never imagined that this would happen to our program.”

The grants cut off by the Trump administration provided stipends for participating students to help pay for basic needs like rent and food.

Shields said the stipend helped her pay for gas for her 50 minute commute to her student teaching position and other essentials. 

“I’m 42, so me and my husband are supporting our three daughters,” she said, “to not have that (stipend) there, we certainly have to come up with alternative measures.”

Schultz said she joined the program for more than just payment. “I joined the program because I could tell how committed Dr. (Marketa) Warren and Dr. Purcell were to helping us become urban teachers.”

CSU responded swiftly to support the affected students.

Levin College and the School of Education were able to find the funds to cover the stipends for impacted students for the rest of the semester and a donation drive acquired necessities for them.

Purcell said many of the affected students are on track to graduate in May, but without the university stepping in, the lack of funds would have put those students in a tough situation.

“We are appreciative of what (the university) was able to do to not interrupt the final months for our students,” Purcell said. 

She also said that other programs around the university who have not received notices are still concerned about a similar letter from the federal government due to the nature of their work.

“It creates fear in the process of trying to drive these important programs forward,” she said. 

Schultz and Shields said that because of CSU's support, they were able to sign new contracts, despite the stop work order.

“The university really rallied behind us,” Shields said. “The new contract ended up just fulfilling what the rest of our stipend would be.”