On a cold and snowy day, dozens gathered at the Federal Plaza in Chicago, joining thousands of others across the country Friday, to protest federal cuts to funding for research. Northwestern University Graduate Workers were among the many groups who attended.
The “Stand Up for Science” rally was part of a larger national movement “to defend science as a public good and pillar of social, political and economic progress” and call for the integrity, accessibility and benefits of science to be upheld.
At the protest in Chicago, some scientists and politicians gave speeches, including Senator Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) and biomedical sciences fourth-year Ph.D. candidate and NUGW divisional chief steward Madeleine Vessely.
“The current federal administration has already made blatant attacks on higher education and scientific research on the basis of ‘woke DEI, transgenderism and Marxist ideology,’ Vessely said during the rally. “These sorts of attacks threaten our right to free speech and academic and intellectual freedom.”
Vessely went on to describe some impacts she and other graduate students at NU have seen. In her lab, she said that funding has already been affected as her principal investigator submitted a grant that was due to be reviewed, but the review meeting was canceled.
Many people who were funded under the National Institutes of Health diversity-specific training grants have lost all their funding, Vessely said in her speech.
“I collected stories about the impact that these federal funding cuts have had on graduate workers at Northwestern,” Vessely said. “I think it’s really important for people to understand the actual effects that these policies are having on individuals and graduate students specifically.”
Biology third-year Ph.D. student Rivaan Kakkaramadam said he attended the rally to bring attention to the valuable research graduate students and scientists produce.
Perspectives in research from marginalized communities and people who come from countries outside the U.S. are needed to solve important questions, Kakkaramadam said. As a trans man of color, he said he feels vulnerable because he is not free from a fear of discrimination and harassment.
“Northwestern has made millions in research funding due to our labor, and that labor wouldn’t have been possible without the perspectives we brought to it,” Kakkaramadam said. “It’s really important that we show up and do what we can to really signal to Northwestern that we need them to take action to resist these fascist policies and defend us during this time.”
Kakkaramadam said the uncertainty surrounding funding has affected labs’ ability to think about the future of recruiting students into the field of science.
Biology third-year Ph.D. student Gracie Siffer said she felt a sense of community at the rally with people who are bravely speaking out for this cause.
“I hope that the University administration sees their student body and their faculty and their grad workforce as like a very powerful united front,” Siffer said. “I think it’s very important for all to see right now that we, Northwestern as a body, should be united against this. Hopefully, we see more of that coming all the way from the top down.”
Siffer said the uncertainty around funding has caused distractions in graduate students’ work because students’ jobs are now in question. She added that she experienced this firsthand when a meeting to discuss a grant that pays her salary starting in September was canceled.
“The funding that we are meant to be getting that normally we would have gotten, very likely, is now just indefinitely paused,” Siffer said. “It creates a sense of uncertainty. It creates a sense of tension. Everyone’s kind of on edge and stressed out all the time.”
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