DOGE Pulls Funding for Belmont Research Project

An honors research project at Belmont lost its funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities this month, due to federal budget cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency.

The project, supposed to be a two-year endeavor, received a grant of $145,186 in December 2023 to create a research-based podcast on spirituality in Americana music. The project just completed its first year, centered around research, and was due to start recording the podcast during the next academic year.

Heading the project were Dr. Donovan McAbee, a theology professor, and Dr. Sarah Blomeley, an English professor. They were given no notice of their grant being pulled ahead of time, and only found out after a grant officer at Belmont tried to get reimbursed for money already spent on the project.

“This is money the federal government promised us but now we don’t know what’s happening,” said Blomeley.

The money for the project was to be used to pay for interviews with industry experts, archival collaboration with the Country Music Hall of Fame, and expenses associated with podcasting. Around $30,000 was already spent on the project and Belmont has to foot the bill for expenses not reimbursed by NEH.

“The university has been really wonderful checking in and they’re trying to help us find other avenues,” said McAbee.

Additionally, since the beginning of the year DOGE has cut two USAID grants given to Belmont. This is not a Belmont specific issue but rather a result of broader federal cuts.

McAbee and Blomeley’s class was held this past academic year during both semesters with the same students, who were passionate about the project.

The subject matter was appealing to those who got in the class, and it was one highly sought after among honors students during registration, said Anna Grace Odom, a junior songwriting and English major.

Though McAbee and Blomeley warned the class about the possibility of losing their NEH grant in January when President Trump ordered a freeze on all federal grants, students in the class were still shocked to lose the grant, Odom said.

“I’ve never been so personally effected by a decision a president has made,” she said.

Currently McAbee and Blomeley are left unsure how to proceed, as they no longer have the funds to support the project but are still looking for alternative funds, they said.

“We’ve done too much work to not go forward,” McAbee said.