DOGE (Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency) is targeting the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) with the aim of eliminating the agency. NEH is the only federal agency that funds our nation’s 56 state and jurisdictional humanities councils.
This comes on top of earlier DOGE attacks on the Institute for Museum and Library Services, the National Park Service, and the Smithsonian Institution – cultural agencies that uplift and guide the practice of American democracy through the arts and humanities.
On Wednesday, April 2, all humanities councils, including Vermont Humanities, received notice from NEH Acting Chair Michael McDonald that all awarded grants—including our 5-year General Operating Grant and other program-specific awards—are canceled in their entirety, effective April 1.
NEH funds 42% of Vermont Humanities’ annual budget.
The loss of NEH funding to humanities councils will decimate our ability to serve communities in our states, eliminating programs that are essential to each state’s cultural infrastructure. Loss of federal support will be particularly hard-hitting in rural communities and other under-resourced areas throughout the country.
In Vermont, we could lose:
- Early childhood literacy and family reading programs, including training for teachers
- Support services for Veterans based in the humanities
- Statewide reading programs like Vermont Reads and vital support for K-12 teachers and students
- Library and community-based program partnerships like the Snapshot Series of free humanities talks that bring people together in even the most rural communities
- Grant funding for libraries, rural museums and historical societies, and grassroots community projects that work to uplift and knit our communities together
Vermont Humanities works in over 100 different communities in all 14 counties every year.
Humanities councils across the nation do all this with only $65 million in federal funding that supports this work in all 56 states and territories. The NEH budget for humanities councils is small, but the losses to everyday Americans will be devastating.
How Can You Help?
- Reach out to our elected officials in Congress and voice your support for NEH and IMLS:
- Share your stories on the impact the arts and humanities make in your own lives and communities, and what’s at stake in your community.
- Participate in cultural activities in your town, contribute to their work by volunteering, donating, and spreading their message – let people know you care!
- Boost this call to action far and wide and tell your networks to raise awareness of what could be lost without NEH, IMLS, and your local libraries and cultural organizations.
- We’re thrilled with the ‘zine created by The Center for Cartoon Studies Applied Cartooning Lab, cartooned by Noah Jodice. The ‘zine is titled, “Humanities Make us Whole.” Feel free to print out and share!
Your voice in this fight is so important right now. We thank you for your strength and we know that together we can stand in support of the arts and humanities and build just, vibrant and resilient communities in Vermont and across the nation.
Please donate to Vermont Humanities to keep our work in your local community alive and thriving!
