Santa Clara University (SCU) demonstrated its faith in science as well as God on March 7. Faculty, staff, and students at the Jesuit Catholic university walked out of classes, labs and offices to Stand Up for Science at noon.
Gathering outside the Sobrato Campus for Discovery and Innovation, they rallied in solidarity with others nationwide—from Boston and Washington, D.C., to Sacramento and San Francisco—to protest recent federal government cuts in science programs and funding.
An estimated 200, including Silicon Valley community members, were protesting the firing of staff from government agencies that support scientific research, the curtailment of activities (including issuing of grants) by those agencies and the elimination of funding covering indirect costs that support teaching and research institutions, including SCU.
“An attack on science is an attack on humanity, an attack on truth,” said Daniel Press, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences since 2020. “Science has a tendency to reveal things people might not want to hear … Power does not like to hear the truth that science has to tell.
“Too much of what we do degrades the human condition. Science is instrumental in telling us what is improving the human condition and what is actively degrading it,” Press continued.
Called a “Teach-In,” the SCU walkout was organized by the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) faculty, among them, professors of biology, chemistry, biochemistry and physics.
Amelia Fuller, SCU Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, said that the goals were to get students involved in seeing how the cuts to science affect their future and to encourage them to spread the word so that others also will stand up for science, especially elected representatives in Washington.
The protesters brought signs with catchy slogans or made them on the spot and held them high.
“Trust science, not billionaires!”
“Cells divide. We don’t have to!”
“Federal Funding for Science Makes America Great.”
“We want scientific data, not alternative facts.”
“No Science, No Truth; Know Science, Know Truth.”
“Cancer Survivor Loves Science.”
People milled around and mingled, sharing their personal stories and insights about science.
“If you get to be old and ugly enough like me, then you can probably point to many inflective points in your life when bio-medical research has improved your life immeasurably,” said Press, who recalled having an emergency appendectomy in an alpine village in Switzerland long ago.
“Had it not been for first-rate medicine and bio-medical research, I wouldn’t be here to tell you this story,” he said.
“I’m an accountant with the conviction for taking care of this planet and the people on it!” said Santa Clara resident Rachel Daniel.
Her sign read, “Our Planet Needs Science!”
SCU junior Neel Mukkavilli, who works in the biology research lab, wrote “Talk to me about graphs” on his sign.
“If you give people information in a graph, they can understand it,” he explained.
SCU Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biology Ian Carter-O’Connell pointed out that “what looks like failure in science is the process of finding the next great idea. Early money is a growth incubator for good ideas.”
SCU Professor of Physics Chris Weber offered a CliffNotes overview of the need to protest.
“The scientific research programs that are being cut or threatened are essential to America’s future. They support the young researchers—undergraduates and grad students—who will develop our next great technologies, form our technical workforce and make the fundamental discoveries that eventually lead to technologies and medical treatments that haven’t even been imagined yet,” said Weber.
“The programs support the basic research and monitoring of weather, climate, and environment that keep us safe. The staff who have lost their jobs at the National Science Foundation were helping to identify the most valuable scientific projects for support with federal research funds. Without federal support for scientific research, we will all end up poorer and sicker,” he concluded.
“Medical research mice saved my life,” said SCU Engineering Lecturer Carol Cobby.
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