Update on federal and state policy changes

Campus Community,

I know many of you are concerned and anxious about the landscape that confronts us in higher education right now. As an official at another institution recently remarked, he has been advised to stop using the word “comfortable” because issues are changing so rapidly the word no longer makes sense to use.

That’s why I want to provide more frequent updates on the issues we are monitoring at the University of Kentucky, how we are responding and how we will keep you informed. Changes in these spaces bring uncertainty — and, understandably, evoke anxiety.  It is critical that we find ways to communicate even more often about these and other issues.

What we’re monitoring

There has been a flurry of executive orders and litigation at the federal level, involving how critical research efforts are funded as well as other aspects of how we operate on campus.

Lawsuits against cuts to NIH research grants have been filed by organizations — such as the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities (APLU) and the Association of American Medical Colleges — in which the University of Kentucky is a member. A federal judge has since kept in place a temporary order blocking these cuts. 

The Department of Education also recently issued guidance — a letter to universities essentially outlining the department’s legal interpretation of an issue — related to DEI in areas such as admissions and programming on campuses. 

Our analysis is that we comply with these executive orders and actions because of our alignment with recent Supreme Court rulings and the policy changes we implemented as a campus last summer.

Additionally, Congress is also working through its process to pass a federal budget. Leaders in both the House and Senate, working with the new administration, have stated that key goals are to extend tax cuts due to expire and significantly reduce federal spending in a number of areas, such as Medicaid, while increasing it in a handful of others. The budget process is still in the very early stages. 

Finally, we are also, as an institution, tracking hundreds of state legislative bills and proposals in Frankfort. We have been pleased with the conversations we’ve had with lawmakers, who understand the importance of what we do on behalf of a state we have been called to serve.

How we’re responding

As a university, we — and so many of you — are working to understand how we may be impacted by all of this change.

We are in a moment where I believe we need to communicate even more often with our campus community. In the coming months, we will communicate what we know, during all this activity and change, and how we are monitoring issues and working to address them in ways that serve the best interests of this campus and our Commonwealth.

I’ve directed our senior leaders to engage even more intentionally and strategically in this process as well, with more targeted updates to specific groups impacted by issues. We have many tools at our disposal to facilitate communication. In the coming weeks and months, we will use more of them. Our government relations teams in Washington and Frankfort are continuously meeting with federal and state policymakers, to make our case and tell our compelling story — your stories — about what we are doing to advance this state.

You can review some of those stories by visiting this website: http://akt.uky.edu. 

Please keep doing the outstanding work that only you can do for Kentucky. My pledge to you is that I — and others on our team — will work tirelessly every day to tell the compelling story of what you do to advance Kentucky.

Where to find more information

In the meantime, we are updating information related to federal regulations, executive orders and other actions at pres.uky.edu/monitoring-federal-changes-2025. You can also email govquestions@uky.edu with questions. 

Even in the midst of so much change and challenge, I am heartened by the fact that this community remains so focused on our north star — how we advance this state in everything that we do. That’s been our calling card for 160 years. A mission like that doesn’t endure without deep and intrinsic value.

The students we educate, the health care we provide, the discoveries we relentlessly seek and the service we render in every community of the Commonwealth — all of it makes a difference. I believe the people of Kentucky know that. And I believe that if we stay focused there — on that mission — we will be even stronger and more important to our state’s future in the next 160 years.

Eli Capilouto
President