By Zachary Murray
Scientific freedom is under attack in the United States. Politicians have decided to dictate who has the ability to conduct science and how. But why? Is it for control, power, or simply because they can? Any successful business person will tell you that when they invest in something, they expect a return on that investment. While the U.S government is not a private corporation, they have an obligation to the people it serves. It is a government created for the people and by the people. Thus, when the government invests, its return is the betterment of society for its people. However, the current administration has made it clear that the days of merit-based, society-betterment funding are over. Any research the Trump administration deems threatening to its exclusionary back-to-American policies is being cut. These research cuts range from DEI programs to cancer research for minority health groups. This encroachment on academic freedom has left the future of science within the United States uncertain. The STEM community wakes every morning in fear of the next academic liberty that has been stripped from us as we slept. We feel lost. So, how do you beat the mob boss when it’s the United States Federal Government? The answer: through communal strength.
Historically, the STEM field has separated personal life and politics from academia. We value competition to drive excellence, but at what cost? From students to faculty, this has led to a disconnect between the person and the scientist. Curved tests and selective majors actively want students to fail. All of this has culminated in an academic community built on the downfall of our peers. Students are pitted against each other at every turn. R1 research institution professors often lecture just to have the capability to do their independent research. Many do not care about students’ well-being, allowing teaching assistants to teach the class rather than themselves. So, where is this STEM community we talk about? Yes, we all do some form of science, but is there anything past that?
On March 7th, the Department of Justice, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Education, and the U.S. General Services Administration announced the immediate cancellation of approximately $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University (Affairs (ASPA)). A ransom note followed, saying the University must immediately comply with a list of demands to retain the privilege of doing business with the United States government (Gruenbaum et al.). This was the first strike by the Trump administration in its campaign to destroy academic freedom in higher education in America. Josh Gruenbaum, Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner and Task Force member, stated,
Columbia University, through their continued and shameful inaction to stop radical protests from taking over buildings on campus and lack of response to the safety issues for Jewish students, and for that matter – all students – are not upholding the ideals of this Administration or the American people. Columbia cannot expect to retain the privilege of receiving federal taxpayer dollars if they will not fulfill their civil rights responsibilities to protect Jewish students from harassment and anti-Semitism.
Then, on March 13th, 60 more universities received threats that the administration’s demands were to be met or they would receive the same fate as Columbia. Columbia entirely capitulated and sacrificed its academic freedom and faculty governance (“The US Government Has Sent Columbia University a Ransom Note”).
These funding removals are part of the Trump administration’s crusade to purge the country of liberal ideologies. Budget cuts disproportionately attacked work that uses words that the Trump administration has recently banned. The message is clear: any research that challenges or threatens their ideologies will not be allowed to continue. History has taught us that politicians should not dictate how science is done. The Soviet Union subjugated science to ideological control and drove the country into famine. Trofim Lysenko refused to accept Mendelian genetics and used his political influence as director of the Institute of Genetics of the Soviet Academy of Sciences to silence any opposition. Lysenko discredited, marginalized, and dismissed those who opposed his anti-Mendelian theory from their posts. Hundreds were imprisoned and labeled enemies of the state for holding opposing and more accurate theories (Trofim Lysenko | Soviet Agronomist & Geneticist, Michurinism | Britannica).
The United States is acting no differently. Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student, was taken as a political prisoner for simply expressing his First Amendment right to freedom of speech. His crime was to speak out in opposition to the US government’s stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Khalil was not alone. Complete capitulation by Columbia University left its students exposed and unprotected. Sadly, twenty-two others, like Khalil, were taken by the new authoritarian disciplinary office meant to bypass due process and silence students criticizing Israel (“My Name Is Mahmoud Khalil and I Am a Political Prisoner”). In the face of the United States federal mafia, Columbia University stood alone and failed its students.
The call for help and solidarity went unanswered by other universities nationwide. But why would they help? Our ultra-competitive STEM field has conditioned us to believe that our peers’ failures are our own triumphs. We stand on the corpses of all those whom we’ve beaten. However, Columbia’s defeat is not isolated; it is a loss for all STEM academia in the United States. No aid came, which sets the precedent that our universities stand divided in our fight to retain academic freedom. What happened to Columbia University will continue if we do not find change within our community.
The Oxford Dictionary defines community in two ways. First, a community can be understood as a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common. This definition places the emphasis on community on location or shared characteristics. This is the reality of the current STEM world. We check our humanity at the door and share a space without actually getting to know each other or our subjective identities. This functions as coexistence rather than a built community.
The second definition defines community as a feeling of fellowship with others as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals. This is the community we lack but need now more than ever. Sharing our subjective identity is crucial to fostering deeper connections and understanding among people. When individuals open up about their personal experiences, beliefs, and perspectives, it creates a space for empathy and vulnerability, allowing others to see beyond surface-level interactions. By sharing our subjective identities, we not only validate our own uniqueness but also encourage acceptance and respect for differences, ultimately strengthening relationships and creating a more inclusive environment where everyone feels valued. This is the common ground we need to find as a STEM community. We cannot stand united without our subjective humanity.
There is a Swahili term called “ubuntu,” which translates to “I am because we are”. This term highlights the importance of a community built on our collective humanity. While competition is necessary to drive success, we have let it become all-encompassing in our academic community. We must shift to finding fellowship in our commonalities as human beings. This common ground as humans within the field of STEM will allow us to have hard conversations. Right now, we need these candid conversations to stand united as a true community. Our community needs subjective identity to find the desire to stand up for the human next to us.
I do not write this to critique the Amherst community. If anything, the Amherst community can be a model for other universities. Here, students are encouraged to bring their identities into the classroom and develop personal relationships with professors. Instead, I speak to R1 institutions and large schools where students are just a number on a piece of paper. I believe large universities could find a balance between the small liberal arts structure and the traditional cut-throat funnel. We need to make room for the human behind the scientist. Our humanity is messy, but it unites us under common ground. Competition has left us divided and exposed to this ideological seizure of academia.
The Big Ten is in the process of forming a Mutual Academic Defense Compact to stand united in the protection of the integrity of scientific research, autonomy of university governance, and the protection of free speech (Resolution to Establish…). In a short one-page proposal, a whole paragraph was dedicated to discussing athletics as a subtle argument to ignite a desire to stand united as a conference. This pact shows how competitive sports, similar to competitive academics, can still provide room to foster community. This Big Ten STEM community will stand together because of a shared subjective identity. They found common ground that could unite them. Since then, over 150 schools have signed a statement condemning the Trump administration’s encroachment on higher education (Speri).
Being a human is messy and complicated. We need competition to drive us as scientists, but this cannot come at the expense of our shared humanity. Outside the numbers and equations, it is our common ground that will allow us to stand united through this fight for our academic freedom. It is unrealistic to expect everyone to agree on everything; that is not democracy. We must focus on what connects us while still celebrating our individual uniqueness. We must find our common ground. We must foster an inclusive community in order to facilitate unity. Alone, we are weak, but together we can take on the mob boss.
References:
Affairs (ASPA), Assistant Secretary for Public. DOJ, HHS, ED, and GSA Announce Initial Cancellation of Grants and Contracts to Columbia University Worth $400 Million. 7 Mar. 2025, https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/task-force-cancels-columbia-university-grants.html.
Gruenbaum, Josh, et al. Dear Dr. Armstrong. 13 Mar. 2025, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GibHAD1orRPC3epAstAO0JixgPWMlI2F/view.
“My Name Is Mahmoud Khalil and I Am a Political Prisoner.” In These Times, 18 Mar. 2025, https://inthesetimes.com/article/mahmoud-khalil-letter-from-a-palestinian-political-prisoner-in-louisiana.
Oxford English Dictionary. https://www.oed.com/. Accessed 11 May 2025.
Resolution to Establish a Mutual Defense Compact for the Universities of the Big Ten Academic Alliance in Defense of Academic Freedom, Institutional Integrity, and the Research Enterprise. https://senate.rutgers.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Resolution-to-Establish-a-Mutual-Defense-Compact-for-the-Universities-of-the-Big-Ten-Academic-Alliance-in-Defense-of-Academic-Freedom-Institutional-Integrity-and-the-Research.pdf.
Speri, Alice. “Over 150 US University Presidents Sign Letter Decrying Trump Administration.” The Guardian, 22 Apr. 2025. The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/21/us-university-presidents-trump-administration.
“The US Government Has Sent Columbia University a Ransom Note.” The Guardian, 19 Mar. 2025. The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/19/government-trump-columbia-university.Trofim Lysenko | Soviet Agronomist & Geneticist, Michurinism | Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Trofim-Lysenko. Accessed 11 May 2025.