EXCLUSIVE: House Panel’s Chairman Calls Out Boston University on Claims of ‘Weaponization of Academia’ 

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—A Boston University professor is “spreading disinformation” about the results of funding cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development, according to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Brian Mast.  

“I am deeply concerned that Boston University is serving as a platform for the weaponization of academia, where federally funded professors are spreading disinformation about the ongoing reorganization of USAID and its consequences,” Mast, R-Fla., wrote in a letter to Melissa Gilliam, president of Boston University.  

In the three-page letter, Mast claims Brooke Nichols, an associate professor at Boston University and an infectious-disease mathematical modeler and health economist, is spreading “dangerous hysteria” through standing up a webpage called the “Impact Counter.” The dashboard is intended to track the effects of federal government funding cuts to humanitarian organizations and initiatives.  

Using modeling research, the Impact Metrics Dashboard estimates the number of lives that have been lost to sicknesses such as malaria, tuberculosis, and pneumonia as a result of “funding changes for aid and support organizations,” according to the platform.  

The dashboard, which is referenced on Boston University’s website, claims 100 people die every hour due to the cuts in government funding for humanitarian work, and more than 119,000 adults and nearly 250,000 children have died as a result of the cuts.  

“Unfortunately, hidden behind Dr. Nichols’ claim is an erroneous set of assumptions based on inaccurate information,” Mast wrote to Boston University’s president.  

Mast contends that “Dr. Nichols wrongly calculates malnutrition-related deaths by dividing total federally appropriated funding by average per-child treatment cost, ignoring that not all funds directly reach treatment and that potential reach isn’t the same as actual impact.” 

In modeling the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief funding freeze, Nichols bases her projections on a “an opaque and flawed layered modeling approach,” the Florida congressman argues. “The primary model uses outdated data and draws on five other models from separate studies, without clearly addressing their limitations or explaining how they interact.”

The dashboard “has become no better than a Russian bot farm or [Chinese Communist Party] propaganda,” Mast says. “Boston University is creating a breeding ground for far-left activists to exploit academia for political gain, which undermines the legitimacy of these institutions.”  

Neither Nichols nor Boston University responded to The Daily Signal’s phone and email requests for comment by the time of publication.

Under the leadership of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Trump administration has begun restructuring the work of USAID. In February, “all USAID direct-hire personnel, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and/or specially designated programs” were “placed on administrative leave globally,” according to the USAID website.  

According to Mast, Rubio has “set forward a policy that hinges on maintaining the lifesaving work USAID was doing around the world.”  

“The restructuring of USAID rids the stench of bloated D.C.-based [nongovernmental organizations], streamlines programmatic implementation, and focuses our foreign assistance with American national security priorities,” the lawmaker wrote.  

The changes made to USAID funding “puts an end to USAID-funded drag shows, electric buses, and vanity climate projects in unstable regions,” he said, adding that USAID continues “the lifesaving work USAID was designed to do and enhances the State Department’s ability to strategically leverage foreign assistance.”  

Mast closed his letter with a series of questions to Gilliam, including:  

What institutional safeguards does Boston University have in place to prevent federally funded research from being used as a vehicle for political advocacy? 

What standards does the university apply to differentiate between legitimate academic inquiry and politically motivated activism, especially when the subject matter involves sensitive global health outcomes? 

“These far-left institutions are draining their credibility,” Mast told The Daily Signal.  

“These are the same schools that allowed Hamas terrorist sympathizers to take over their campuses,” he said, referring to pro-Palestine protests and demonstration at schools such as Boston University, Harvard, and Columbia. “Now, they want to go after President Trump and Secretary Rubio for putting American interests back into our foreign policy. It’s time to set the record straight.” 

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