Eighty-three percent of Northwestern graduate students say they could last less than six months without a paycheck before being forced to drop out.
That’s according to an April survey by the Northwestern University Graduate Workers union that garnered 300 responses after the Trump administration froze $790 million in federal funding for NU, issued at least 98 stop-work orders and terminated at least 51 grants for NU programs.
The poll was part of a mobilization effort by the union including letters to university leaders, public protests and general membership meetings to counter the Trump administration.
Third-year Ph.D. candidate in molecular biophysics and NUGW Chief Steward Gracie Siffer said her paycheck has not been federally reimbursed since March. Her research, which studies proteins that could guide new drug designs, has stopped receiving funding from the National Institutes of Health, she said.
NU has continued to pay her salary without federal reimbursement, but she said it was unclear how sustainable that practice would be. She added that she would be likely able to work for around three months without pay before being forced to drop out.
Siffer said work like hers must be federally funded because privately backed research leads to companies raising drug prices and keeping findings private.
“The only way to ensure that anything ethical happens in biomedical research is to do it through the federal government,” Siffer said. “That’s why the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation exist.”
As a chief steward representing union members in Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences STEM programs, Siffer said individuals can’t do much about the federal government’s orders on their own, but she tells graduate workers in similar situations to engage in collective action.
Released in April, NUGW’s new four-pillar platform advocates for protecting noncitizen workers, restoring STEM research funding, defending transgender rights and maintaining diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. A pledge outlining the platform has received over 600 signatures, Siffer said.
Leaders also polled rank-and-file members for their opinions on how NU should respond and detailed their responses in an email to university administrators, she said, which led to a direct meeting. NUGW supplemented dialogue behind closed doors with public speech, she added, exemplified by the Day of Action and May Day protests.
Third-year Ph.D. candidate in biotechnology and fellow NUGW Chief Steward Maanasa Narayanamoorthy said over 250 graduate workers attended the union’s general membership meeting for April, the most in attendance for a meeting since November 2023.
Siffer said NUGW held a “Know Your Rights” workshop Feb. 7 and compiled resources for members to reference and hold their own events. NUGW’s parent organization, United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, also started a hotline for graduate students facing any immigration-related emergencies, she said.
Second-year Ph.D. candidate in art history and NUGW Local Steward Amanda Alvarez said they organized a town hall within the art history department about offering aid to international workers, which could include cooking, childcare and rides to visa appointments.
Researchers like Alvarez often study unknown artists with little available information online, they explained, forcing them to travel abroad to find physical archives.
Alvarez said this has become especially difficult for international graduate workers as experts now advise extreme caution for noncitizens when trying to leave the U.S. and come back. Without the ability to do that research, Alvarez said, graduate students lose their livelihoods and academic freedom.
Fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in molecular biosciences and NUGW Local Steward Caitlin Palmer said the union has supported graduate students facing not just financial insecurity, but also emotional insecurity.
“The sense of community, of not knowing that I’m alone in this, has been really impactful,” Palmer said. “Anywhere from chemistry to molecular biosciences to art history, we’re all feeling the same stress and pain.”
Narayanamoorthy said NUGW emphasizes a spirit of collectivism, in which members who feel safer can use their voices to protect more vulnerable members.
They added that the union also tries to educate all members on how to keep themselves and others safe.
“It is a delicate line to walk,” Narayanamoorthy said. “We never ask our membership to take risks that would endanger themselves. But we also recognize that it feels like not saying anything at this point is not an option.”
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Related Stories:
— NUGW sends letter to Schill urging University to protect non-citizens
— NU to continue funding research impacted by stop-work orders
