Why We Marched

Administrators, faculty and students from the Yale School of Public Health spent Earth Day (Saturday, April 22) rallying at sites around Connecticut and beyond to protest proposed cuts by the federal government to scientific funding.

YSPH scientists and future scientists could be found in Hartford and New Haven, Conn., Washington, D.C., and even in Fort Meyers, Florida. Despite the geographical spread, their purpose was the same: send a message to Congress and the president that scientific research improves and saves lives everywhere.

Student aid, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Endowment for the Humanities are among the program facing budget cuts if approved by Congress. The effect of the cuts on research universities such as Yale and on scientific progress would be devastating.

"I marched today because I am concerned with the disdain of the Trump administration for the value and importance of science in our policy making process. I also marched to protest Trump administration’s proposed budget cuts to global health programs. In our interconnected world, these budget cuts send the wrong message of the role of U.S in the world and make us less safe," said Kaveh Khoshnood, YSPH associate professor, who marched in New Haven.