“The support from the Python community in response has been overwhelming,” Seth Larson told me last week. As the Python Software Foundation‘s (PSF) principal investigator for a $1.5 million grant National Science Foundation application, Larson had a front-row seat for the multiround, months-long vetting process — and to everything that happened next.
In short, the PSF turned the grant down after discovering new federal “terms and conditions” that would require them to end any programs promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) “during the term of this financial assistance award.” But a flood of new donations followed, and the PSF vowed to explore other funding options while remaining steadfast to their organizational values.
“It was so maddening to have to turn down work that would benefit everyone,” posted Loren Crary, PSF deputy executive director, on Reddit, “because they insisted on dictating what we do outside of the security project.”
Yet rejecting the grant created a surge in news coverage, thousands of upvotes on social media and an upswell of donations. Together, maybe that show of support forms a kind of collective answer — an example of how a community responds to a forceful outside attempt to challenge their culture.
By coming together.
Support From Guido — and Thousands of Others
“I was one of the board members who voted to reject this funding — a unanimous but tough decision,” wrote Simon Willison on his blog. “I’m proud to serve on a board that can make difficult decisions like this.”
And Python’s original creator, Guido van Rossum, even made his own post of support on X, formerly known as Twitter. “If you haven’t heard about this, kudos to the PSF for standing for its values (which are also my values).”
If you haven’t heard about this, kudos to the PSF for standing for its values (which are also my values). — Guido van Rossum (@gvanrossum), Oct. 29, 2025
The day of the announcement, the PSF received about 300 new donations, Crary said — but then they’d kept coming. On Tuesday (Oct. 28), one Reddit user even complained their first try at donating was met with a timeout error — and Crary responded that apparently, “Our donation page got a little overwhelmed.”
... continue reading