A small crowd formed in front of Silverman Hall by 3 p.m. Thursday. Some of these community members gathered around two tables, talking with volunteers for Stand Up for Science Chicago — an organization advocating for research funding, free expression and diversity in scientific fields — and writing on postcards to send to state senators and Northwestern administrators.
Undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, alumni and other community members joined the crowd at the “Stand Up with Us” rally throughout the hour of tabling, which preceded another hour of speeches. Halfway through the speeches, almost 70 people stood on the pavement and grass, listening to speeches by students and other presenters.
Speaking to a crowd of attendees, second-year Ph.D. candidate in chemical and biological engineering Matthew Lucia said scientists are working on cancer research and a sustainable future, which prompted a “thank you” shout from a crowd member. Others in attendance clapped in support.
For two hours, positioned in between multiple NU buildings focusing on STEM research, attendees called on University leadership to protect research funding, support international students and protect diversity and inclusion in the sciences.
“We need to prioritize protecting the people who are at the heart of this university, the students, the researchers, the faculty,” McCormick Prof. Michael Peshkin said at the rally. “We need to prioritize them financially, even over maintaining an endowment in perpetuity.”
Sponsored by Stand Up for Science Chicago, NU Postdoc Union and NU Graduate Workers, the rally featured Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss and State Sen. Laura Fine (D-Glenview), who both spoke about the importance of scientific research and diversity, as well as the current political climate.
Students, faculty and staff also spoke along with representatives from the three sponsoring organizations. There were also speakers from Students Organizing for Labor Rights, NU’s Science in Society center and Indivisible Evanston.
Third-year Ph.D. candidate in mechanical engineering Rohan Kota helped organize the rally. In his speech, he expressed his concern over the funding cuts to research, which he said are “not just numbers on some budget sheet,” but rather numbers that “represent real people” working toward scientific advancements. He also emphasized that international students and scientists have made important contributions to scientific discoveries in the United States.
“Most of us will never know their names, and yet it is their work that has helped lead to the drastic rise in cancer survival rates over the past decade, and enables us to FaceTime our loved ones even when they’re thousands of miles away,” Kota said at the rally. “We cannot continue to lead in the 21st century by gutting our scientific workforce here at home.”
Stand Up for Science held rallies in 32 cities across the country on March 7 to protest federal funding cuts to research, censorship and attacks on diversity and inclusion initiatives in scientific fields. After the initial nationwide demonstration, organizers established a Chicago “local” to continue the advocacy around the city — including at NU.
Volunteer and University of Illinois Chicago Ph.D. candidate Joseph Dominguez said the goal for the rally was to raise awareness to how the Stand Up for Science mission connects to NU, and to show that the University is “not alone” in its struggle against funding cuts.
Lucia was one of the organizers for the rally and said he hoped NU’s administration saw the demonstration in support of scientific research as being “in line” with its goals.
“We are able to stand up and say, ‘Hey, these are the things that we believe in: We believe in developing new vaccines. We believe in developing new materials that will help us generate power from the sun better for solar energy. We believe in a future really that is inspired by a lot of the work that we are doing here,’” Lucia said. “And by taking away that funding, you are really doing a disservice to the American people as a whole. And I think the (NU) admin knows that.”
During her speech, Fine listed several scientific institutions that faced funding cuts on the federal level, including the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health.
She also called for an end to attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants and the environment.
“We cannot let this happen anymore,” Fine said. “We have to protect all that is important to us, and we have to continue to shout out that we believe in science.”
Postdoctoral researcher and NU Postdoc Union representative Steven Baksa called on the University to hire lawyers to represent international students, defend employees’ right to unionize, protect employees from ICE and support other institutions facing similar political issues.
The crowd cheered as Baksa mentioned how Harvard University is “fighting back” against the Trump administration’s attacks on its funding and ability to admit international students.
“What gives me hope is seeing students, faculty and the staff and the working class more generally, uniting and acting together in one fashion,” Baksa said.
Stand Up for Science Chicago set up two information tables from 3 to 4 p.m. before the start of the rally. An immigration lawyer was available to talk at one, and the other offered postcards and templates for writing to state politicians and NU officials.
Weinberg freshman Sara Davis wrote five postcards: three to politicians in her home state of Oregon, and two to NU officials, urging them to resist censorship and political interference in scientific research, she said.
“I’m just very concerned about the direction this country is going in many aspects of government and society, not the least of which is science and our attitudes toward health and toward fact-based medicine,” Davis said. “And so I thought I’d take a break from studying and come out here to do something.”
Several NUGW members, including Lucia, attended the Chicago demonstration. He said the experience made him realize many scientists are “itching” to defend the work they are doing.
“The ability to bring that to Northwestern was really an attractive idea for me,” Lucia said. “So many of us, I think, are so interested in standing up for ourselves and really encouraging others around us to also see how this is a real big issue.”
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Bluesky: @aknewsom.bsky.social
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