“Nationwide Stand up for Science” Rally with “Nerd Parties across the Country”
Report and photos by Phil Pasquini
Washington: Science matters! And on March 7 a “Nationwide Stand up for Science” rally took place along with 32 other “nerd parties across the country” protesting the administration’s attack on federal science workers, programs, and research.
The protest and rally were originally conceived by a small group of graduate students and other mid-career scientists in reaction to the firing by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) of thousands of government science workers, along with cutting funds, freezing grants and terminating DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility).
Stand up for Science has now blossomed into a global movement that “aims to defend science as a public good and a pillar of social, political, and economic progress.” And to “Secure and Expand Scientific Funding, Ending Censorship and Political Interference in Science and to defend DEI so that science is open and accessible for all.” Organizers called on “policymakers, institutions, and the scientific community to uphold the integrity of science and ensure it benefits all people.”
With the massive support and resistance across the country, several thousand scientists and others turned out in Washington to express their disgust, warning of the long-term consequences for public health if the cuts are allowed to stand. Science activists carried numerous thought-provoking, humorous and creative signs and banners to advocate their positions for the absolute necessity of restoring science jobs, grants, departments and programs.
For anyone unable to attend a rally, organizers encouraged them to participate in a noon walk-out by leaving their labs, jobs, or classrooms in a display of solidarity advocating for science.
With the Lincoln Memorial as a dramatic backdrop, an extensive list of speakers, including legislators, distinguished scientists, and patients whose lives have been saved due to scientific research, all addressed the importance of and immediate necessity to reverse the DOGE decision to shut science down.
Renowned American surgeon Dr Atul Gawande, public health researcher and former assistant for global health at USAID spoke eloquently in telling the crowd that “We have a job to do!”
“The job is that we must bear witness to the harm…They take a spreadsheet with the work of thousands of scientists and professionals as an example they can distort and ridicule…They are denying the harm in order to destroy the engine that made the US the greatest driver of science, of health, and of prosperity in the world.”
He described how research into seeking cures of human diseases have been replicated through the use of the development of hormone and transgenic mice. DOGE has transformed that important and valuable research into the false narrative that government scientists have been “making transgender mice” as an example of “rampant waste and fraud. Then they use the lies to stop serious funding and work. They’ll use these lies to take down agencies like USAID.”
Dr Francis Collins, the longtime head of the NIH (National Institute of Health) and leader of the Human Genome Project, abruptly retired last week after 32 years of service when the Institute was de-funded by DOGE. Dr Collins cited the fact that for every dollar that the government invested in the human genome project, led to $141 in economic return. He also noted that that project had transformed human biology and medicine, resulting in the saving of both lives and money.
Speaker and Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD), who described himself as “A true blue died in the wool Democrat,” began by saying that “I wanted to end on a bipartisan note by evoking the last great Republican President, Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was a man of science and of reason, he was a champion of immigration and immigrants. He was an enemy of the Know-Nothings and he hated conspiracy theories. If Lincoln was here today, he would be here today!”
Raskin went on to cite Article 1 of the Constitution which says that “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. We’ve got the lawmaking power, if anybody is going to tear down the NIH, if anybody is going to dismantle the Agency for International Development, if anybody is going to take down the Food and Drug Administration it’s going to be the Congress of the United States … We created these institutions, and we funded these institutions, and the Appropriations Act is an act of Congress, it’s a federal law.”
Raskin closed by confessing that being isolated up on Capitol Hill, he was confused by some science questions he had and asked for help with yes or no answers. “Can you cure COVID by drinking bleach? Can you redirect a hurricane with a large sharpie? Can you treat or even cure autism with right wing conspiracy theories?”
All of why the crowd answered resoundingly with “No!” After all, science matters!
(Phil Pasquini is a freelance journalist and photographer. His reports and photographs appear in the Washington Report on Middle East Affair, Countercurrents, and Nuze.ink. He is the author of Domes, Arches and Minarets: A History of Islamic-Inspired Buildings in America.)
