Approximately 250 students, faculty and local community members rallied at the Tennessee State Capitol on March 7 to protest against President Donald Trump’s executive orders to cut the federal workforce and halt federal funding to scientific research. This event was hosted as a part of a nationwide day of protest titled “Stand Up for Science,” with the main rally held in Washington, D.C.
The rally was organized by students and staff at Vanderbilt University Medical School and other local universities, as well as by local community members. Speakers — including organizers, VUMS students and researchers, Tennessee State Senator Heidi Campbell and State Representative Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville) — called attention to the National Institutes of Health’s proposed reduction of funding for “indirect costs,” ongoing pauses to federal grants directed toward scientific research, online misinformation about vaccines and executive orders to limit initiatives promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.
Kelly Taylor, a genetic counselor at VUMC, opened the rally by discussing the role of medical research funding in developing lifesaving cures, as well as her belief in the importance of DEI initiatives to this work. In a conversation with The Hustler, Taylor said she chose to take part in organizing the rally out of concern for the impact the federal research funding cuts will have on her patients.
“I have been in this field for over 30 years, so I have seen how important publicly funded research is for helping patients,” Taylor said. “I have been really disheartened by the cuts that the administration is making and how I foresee it’s going to impact scientific research and medical breakthroughs, and felt like I had to do something.”
Protestors held signs promoting scientific research and condemning the cuts to federal funding with phrases like “fund science like you fund war” and “we’ve regressed beyond the mean.” Chants included “fund public health, not corporate wealth,” “facts over fear” and “cite your sources.” Several chants called out Trump, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and businessman and head of the Department of Government Efficiency Elon Musk.
Campbell and Behn both expressed gratitude for the protestors who attended the rally, and Behn encouraged attendees to host similar rallies in the future in support of science and medical research funding.
“We promise you all that we will continue to fight — we will continue to show up, and you have to continue to show up, as well,” Behn said.
Professor of Medicine Sheila Collins volunteered to speak at the end of the rally and reflected on her childhood. She shared her experience contracting diseases, including measles and chickenpox, that now have vaccines and urged protestors to advocate for innovation in the medical field.
“One thing I think this country is forgetting and that we have to act on is that Congress has the power,” Collins said. “We need to remind all of our representatives and senators that they have a responsibility and they cannot be weak in this particular moment.”
In a conversation with The Hustler, PhD candidate Reilly Fankhauser voiced his frustration toward the federal funding cuts while acknowledging the limitations the university faces in using the endowment to replace these deficits.
“I think it’s time for all of us to show up today and try to support science, because the funding cuts have already hit and they’ve come in very quickly — most noticeably indirect costs already being slashed at the NIH, and they fund all of our infrastructure facilities,” Fankhauser said.
Fankhauser also said he believes the pause on reviewing and funding grants will have the biggest effect on doctoral trainees.
“We don’t know when [federal agencies will] continue to review grants,” Fankhauser said. “I submitted one back in August, and it got a really good score — nearly a perfect score, but it hasn’t been funded yet because we’ve delayed any meetings to actually adjudicate where we’re going to send funds.”
PhD candidate Allie Lake and postdoctoral researcher Katherine Stefanski were a part of the team who organized the rally. Lake told The Hustler that she was driven by fears surrounding the federal funding cuts.
“I am not normally an organizer or an activist, per se, but I was very concerned about what was going on, and I felt like there was a lot of silence, and I think everyone was scared,” Lake said. “I think everyone was so dumbfounded that no one really knew what to do or say. I mean, this is not controversial, [so I said], ‘We should get together and have a heart for science.’ Then I found out it was already being organized on a national level from the D.C. team.”
Lake also expressed appreciation for the people who showed up in support of the rally.
“It was honestly beyond what I expected — it definitely exceeded my expectations,” Lake said. “First we had 70 people sign up, and then a couple days later, we had 200. I was very pleased with the turnout.”
Stefanski shared her motivation for organizing the rally.
“I’m a future independent scientist, and that right now is being threatened by funding cuts, so I’m basically fighting for my job,” Stefanski said. “I do biomedical research, and the whole point of biomedical research is to bring cures to diseases for people who don’t have any hope right now, and that work has to continue for those people.”
