CMU stands up for science
A crowd listens to Central Michigan graduate student Cody Morrison speak at the beginning of the Stand Up for Science rally outside of the Bovee University Center, on the campus of Central Michigan University, Friday, March 7, 2025. "The public's trust in science is being eroded constantly by people who dismiss evidence-based policies and are silencing experts who speak the truth," Morrison said. (CM-Life | Mark Hoover)
A Stand Up for Science rally was hosted on Friday, March 7 outside of the Bovee University Center on the campus of Central Michigan University, to raise awareness about recent federal employee firings and proposed budget cuts by the United States President Donald Trump's administration.
CMU biology professor Jennifer Schisa organized the event, which was one of 200 science-focused events held around the nation on March 7. Central Michigan biology graduate student Cody Morrison teamed up with professor Schisa to kick off the event where over 50 people showed up in support.
Morrison gave a speech at the start of rally about their reason for gathering that day.
“We rally today not just as scientists, students, and educators, but as individuals who believe in the future shaped by facts, research, and discovery," Morrison said.
Attendees shared how science has impacted them throughout their lives. One of those individuals was Central Michigan Geography and Environmental Studies professor Anthony Feig.
“I had cancer,” Feig said. “I don’t look it. Why? Science!”
The sentiment of science being important was echoed by other protestors, including Central Michigan junior Samuel Fikes, who held a ‘Hands off NOAA’ sign at the rally.
The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration works to predict changes in weather, climate, oceans and coasts. Their work also helps to prepare people for severe weather.
“As we speak today, they work to dismantle NOAA, an agency that provides us with nearly ten times the value we put into it, and vital public services that prevent loss of life and property,” Fikes said. “If this was about saving money, they wouldn’t be dismantling the (National) Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.”
Recently, NOAA began firing at least 800 workers as part of a layoff ordered by the Trump administration to reduce the size of the federal government, as reported by NPR. The terminations included staff of the National Weather Service, which generates weather forecasts for millions of people in the U.S.
It’s not just NOAA being affected, either. The Trump administration recently planned to cut grant funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). However, U.S District Judge Angel Kelley issued a nationwide injunction on March 5 to block the move.
“ CMU is one of the top 10 largest funded organizations in the state by NIH,” Central Michigan second-year PhD student Tori Trice said. “So that lack of funding would severely impact us.”
Trice said that if the funding cuts fall through, then it may be difficult for American scientists to keep up with the rest of the world.
“ I want us to be able to continue to be a science leader in the world, and that is challenged right now because of the potential lack of funding, and we could fall behind,” Trice said.
Ace McClelland, a recent CMU graduate, agreed that the lack of funding does more harm than good.
“The fact that they're trying to cut funding to the sciences is just not going to help anything,” McClelland said.
The Trump administration also plans to dismantle the Department of Education, which worries Central Michigan professor Jennifer Weible, who works within the Special Education department and is the Director of Graduate Programs in Educational Technology.
“We are not going to have people who want to go into science, that are able to go into science, who have the skillset, and the knowledge to go into science, in the future, if we don’t support the Department of Education as well,” Weible said.
“ Science is a part of everything in our world, whether you recognize it or not,” said McClelland. “If you defund the science, it's a butterfly effect with everything.”
