Stand Up For Science Rally

Fort Collins, CO — STEM Interdisciplinary Alliance (SIRA) at Colorado State University (CSU) and IndivisibleNOCO are joining hundreds of communities across the United States in rallies to Stand Up For Science on Friday, March 7. The Fort Collins rally will start at 12:00pm at the CSU Lory Student Center Plaza and will march to Old Town Fort Collins before returning to campus. All members of CSU, Fort Collins, and the surrounding community are welcome to join. The rally will raise awareness about executive policies that negatively affect education, science, climate, and healthcare in our communities. STEM Interdisciplinary Ram Alliance at CSU and IndivisibleNOCO, among many other local organizations, are demonstrating solidarity with national groups who believe that education is a fundamental right and that “Science is for Everyone.”

STEM programs nationwide provide essential academic training and career advancement activities for diverse groups of students in science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine. CSU receives over $50 million in federal grants to support STEM programs and research efforts on infectious disease, climate crisis, and wildfire protection. These funds create desirable jobs in Colorado communities and provide hands-on career training opportunities for hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and scientific staff. Community members at CSU and Fort Collins are concerned about how new executive orders cutting funding and agencies will affect the education and careers of local students and the economies of Northern Colorado.

Cuts in federal funding put infectious disease research, climate crisis research, wildfire protection research, and more in jeopardy. As stated on the CSU Research website, “From our veterinary medicine labs to the Energy Institute’s groundbreaking sustainability work, we’re inspired to push the boundaries of our knowledge to become an unstoppable force for good.”

Stand Up For Science rallies will be occurring nationwide on March 7, inviting all who support educators and scientists to raise awareness on the negative impacts of these executive orders that defund and censor advancements in education, science, and healthcare in all of our communities.

* This release has been amended to clarify that it is the student organization STEM Interdisciplinary Ram Alliance at CSU and affiliated community groups that are rallying and marching in support of education and science. Opinions expressed by these participants do not necessarily reflect official CSU positions.