Students and residents alike held signs saying "science matters," "funding research saves lives" and other slogans during a "Rally for Science" in Uptown Oxford March 7.
Drivers honked their horns as roughly 100 Oxford residents and students lined High Street March 7, holding signs that read "Make science great again," "funding research saves lives" and more.
The "Rally for Science," an event held in coordination with similar rallies across the country, aimed to highlight how federal funding cuts under the new Trump administration have impacted scientific research.
Beyond funding freezes, President Trump has also withdrawn the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, a document endorsed by almost every country which includes commitments to limiting greenhouse gas emissions. Other executive orders building on his promise to "drill, baby, drill," will allow more land to be used for oil and gas production, according to the Associated Press.
Audrey Allen, a senior environmental science major at Miami University with a co-major in sustainability, has felt the impact of President Donald Trump's funding freeze personally. She's been applying to graduate school this year, but many top programs have paused or lowered enrollment in the wake of uncertainty. She had several interviews for her top program before Trump attempted to freeze all federal grants in late January.
"All of the sudden, I stopped hearing back," Allen said. "I reached out and was wondering what happened, and they said, 'We're sorry, we're closing the position because of what's happening with the new administration."
The New York Times has reported that President Trump's actions during his first weeks back in office have threatened to "broadly undercut the financial foundation of university based research." That impact is especially pronounced for reductions in National Institutes of Health reimbursements. Colleges and universities have limited or reneged on offers to graduate and PhD students, The Times reported, and many have frozen hiring.
Allen was joined by several other Miami students during the March 7 rally, which started at 1 p.m. While Allen has been disappointed in how scientific research is being impacted by the Trump administration, she's hopeful that protests and public actions will have an impact on policymakers.
John Bailer (top left photo) was the local organizer for Oxford's "Rally for Science." The event focused on how the Trump administration's actions during his first weeks in office have impacted research funding and skepticism over scientific concepts like vaccines and climate change. Photos by Sean Scott
Bonnie Neff, another attendee, said two of her children are alive today because of antibiotics. Health Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr. ha repeatedly called into question the efficacy of vaccines and claimed that some may cause autism. That claim has been repeatedly discredited by the scientific community. Kennedy has denied being anti-vaccination.
When she was five years old, Neff remembers standing in line for the polio vaccine. Declining vaccination rates and misinformation today feel like an undoing of medical progress since then, she said.
"It's just crazy to think that any of this isn't real — that vaccines don't work or that climate change isn't happening," Neff said.
For Steve Gordon, a retired administrator at Miami University's McGuffey House and Museum, attending the rally was a way to support the positive impact scientific research can have on society as a whole. That message is especially relevant in Oxford, which has a strong student population, he said.
"We're educating the next generation of students," Gordon said. "I think a lot of our research that's conducted here at this institution is going to be carried on by the students as they enter their careers and help improve lives for all of us."
The Rally for Science was locally organized by John Bailer and aligned with a national rally in Washington, D.C. Oxford residents also joined in a national march against the Trump administration and Elon Musk's efforts to slash the federal government on Feb. 17.
Organizers are planning to hold another rally Uptown on March 15. The event will coincide with the "Ides of Trump," a national campaign to write postcards addressed to the White House stating opposition to President Trump's policies. Oxford residents plan to join the campaign by writing postcards at Oxford Lane Library from 9:15-11 a.m. March 15, but the event is not affiliated with the library.
