(C) El Paso Matters.org This story was originally published by El Paso Matters.org and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . White House canceled ‘party’ for NSF grant in El Paso amid UTEP concerns, emails show [1] ['Daniel Perez', 'More Daniel Perez', 'El Paso Matters', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width'] Date: 2024-06-17 Update: 4:40 p.m. June 17: The headline on this story has been updated to more clearly reflect how the event came to be canceled. University of Texas at El Paso leaders were dismissive of plans for a celebratory launch party by the White House meant to recognize the school and its partners for being awarded several significant grants, including a major National Science Foundation grant, documents show. They cited concerns that it would appear political in an election year, according to U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, whose office was supposed to help coordinate the event. Veronica Escobar The celebration of the recent grants — including the NSF grant which could have meant $160 million for the regional economy — was canceled by the White House on April 23. This was a day after initial inquiries from UTEP’s Office of Auditing and Consulting Services and two days before the NSF announced its decision April 25 to suspend the UTEP-led Paso del Norte Defense and Aerospace Innovation Engine. Escobar told El Paso Matters that “the president’s team,” referring to UTEP President Heather Wilson, intimated that a party scheduled for May 3 that included White House signage might be too political in an election year. She was surprised at that reaction and mentioned it to Wilson when both met April 30 in Washington, D.C. Wilson said that her team recommended caution, Escobar said. Escobar compared that situation to the recent visit to UTEP by former Vice President Mike Pence, whose conservative nonprofit hosted a May 21 roundtable discussion on the border. Pence and retired U.S. Border Patrol officials at the roundtable criticized the policies of President Joe Biden. “It’s a little ironic,” Escobar said. UTEP President Heather Wilson (Courtesy UTEP) Wilson was traveling and has not responded to questions sent Wednesday afternoon through UTEP’s Division of Marketing and Communications. Prior to coming to UTEP in 2019, Wilson was secretary of the U.S. Air Force during the Trump administration and served as a Republican congresswoman for New Mexico for 10 years. A university spokesman said that during the planning for the White House event, the university told Escobar’s office that UTEP could host the event, but it needed to communicate directly with the federal entities involved. The spokesman did not address Escobar’s statements that UTEP officials had told her that such an event might be “too political” in an election year. The spokesman said UTEP complies with University of Texas System guidelines with respect to campus events during election season that involve candidates for public office. He declined to answer El Paso Matters’ questions about which specific guidelines the university was following, instead providing a list of 10 state codes and UT System rules and regulations on the use of state property, political activities, speech and assembly and the use of facilities, among others. He added that the university’s legal department provides regular guidance on a variety of compliance issues. There are several references to a launch event in emails between Ahmad Itani, the university’s vice president for research, and Ahsan Choudhuri, former associate vice president of UTEP’s Aerospace Center and the project’s primary investigator. Most of the emails, which El Paso Matters obtained through an open records request, show the two men and a few others trying to figure out why the agency suspended the grant. “Any idea what is going on?,” was the late afternoon message April 25 from Itani to Choudhuri and Ryan Wicker, executive director of the W.M. Keck Center for 3D Innovation and the project’s co-principal investigator. Wilson’s decision to remove Choudhuri as head of the center was supported by UT System Chancellor James Milliken and UT System Board of Regents Chair Kevin Eltife, but drew criticism from El Paso’s three highest ranking elected officials, who are Democrats: Escobar, El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser and El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego. The Fabens Airport in Fabens, Texas, is one of the resources potentially at issue in the suspension of the grant that the National Science Foundation had awarded to UTEP. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters) The NSF asked its Office of Inspector General in early May to review the proposal. UTEP reported that it had found some “incorrect statements” in the plan and alerted the NSF on May 6. The issues being debated included promises of resources such as hangars at the county-owned Fabens Airport and an 8,000-acre test range in El Paso’s Lower Valley near the airport. Choudhuri, through his attorney, said he did not engage in any wrongdoing. An OIG spokeswoman on Wednesday told El Paso Matters that she could not confirm or deny any past or present investigation of the UTEP innovation engine proposal. She added that the agency may not be able to comment on a case even after it is closed, and that some cases take months or years to resolve. learn more 6 things to help you understand UTEP’s NSF grant suspension The National Science Foundation’s decision to suspend its grant to a UTEP-led coalition that could have meant up to $160 million to the regional economy has created concerns and confusion. Escobar said a lengthy delay could doom the UTEP-led project. She said she looks forward to learning more about the investigation through the university, which can inquire about the scope of the investigation and other related issues. She asked Wilson to share any information she gets. Itani and the people he delegates are the only people who can contact the NSF officially, according to emails obtained by El Paso Matters. The uncertainty creates anxiety among those who helped create the proposal that was geared to build aerospace and defense manufacturing capabilities in the region. The project involved 18 partners from eight counties in West Texas and Southern New Mexico. UTEP’s Ahsan Choudhuri led the El Paso coalition that won a $40 million grant through the Build Back Better Regional Challenge, Sept. 2, 2022. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters) Choudhuri’s attorney, Bob Blumenfeld, said that his client still does not know what caused the NSF to suspend the grant. Choudhuri remains a professor in UTEP’s Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering and is the endowed Mr. and Mrs. MacIntosh Murchison Chair II in Engineering. Among the emails Choudhuri sent to Itani was one at 7:15 a.m. April 26 that stated that the NSF could suspend the project if the principal investigator was being investigated by the OIG. “I am just trying to understand if that (UTEP) internal audit triggered an OIG investigation,” Choudhuri wrote in the email “I just want to be prepared.” A UTEP spokesman has previously said that the university had no role in the NSF’s decision to suspend the grant. Blumenfeld has said that Choudhuri respects the NSF and the NSF OIG review of the UTEP grant. Plans for a White House event The emails provided to El Paso Matters show Choudhuri on April 26 sent Itani a list of activities by date that were tied to the NSF grant. The list included references to planned celebrations to promote the official announcement Jan. 29 of the innovation engine grant. Some of the listings involved or were provided by Susie Byrd, the executive director of the Aerospace Center. A White House representative on Feb. 13 initially suggested a possible event in El Paso. The NSF on Feb. 22 proposed a launch event. Aerospace Center leaders involved Itani and Lucas Roebuck, vice president for Marketing and Communications, Nadia Whitehead, assistant vice president for media relations, and Dustin Meador, deputy chief of staff. There were tentative plans to schedule an event the week of March 18, but the White House backed out. In a listing for March 19, Choudhuri wrote that Byrd said that Itani mentioned “that UTEP didn’t want to do a launch.” In an April 17 email to Choudhuri and Byrd, Itani changed his stance: “We are all committed to making this event a success,” he wrote. Discussions continued through the spring. On March 20, a White House representative said that it wanted Escobar’s office to be the lead organizer. Subsequent listings included event discussions with representatives from the NSF, NASA, the city of El Paso and the U.S. Economic Development Administration. A member of Escobar’s team shared a draft run of show April 12. Nine days later, a White House representative sent an email stating that the May 3 event needed to be canceled but did not offer a reason. He hoped to “circle back for a later date.” The UTEP-led project was one of 10 Regional Innovation Engines that the NSF announced in January. The projects involved industry, nonprofits, government and academia in research and development to build economic opportunities for their communities and beyond. See Also ‘Extremely concerned’: El Paso leaders rip UTEP President Heather Wilson over NSF grant fallout UTEP for the first time provided details on why it removed the head of its Aerospace Center and alerted the National Science Foundation of concerns over a major grant. The El Paso focus was on robotics and advanced manufacturing, and the goal was to build the infrastructure and capabilities of small- and medium-sized companies so they could be competitive bidders for defense and aerospace contracts. UTEP’s Aerospace Center and the W.M. Keck Center for 3D Innovation were the leaders of the coalition that included the city and county of El Paso, Spaceport America, Workforce Solutions Borderplex, El Paso Community College, the Rio Grande Council of Governments and the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining. [END] --- [1] Url: https://elpasomatters.org/2024/06/17/utep-nsf-grant-white-house-veronica-escobar-heather-wilson/ Published and (C) by El Paso Matters.org Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0 International. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/elpasomatters/