Hello friends,
This week, I’m feeling very much aligned with a recent interview with investigative journalist Maria Ressa, who said, “We're standing on the rubble of the world that was. The old world we lived in is gone.” She was talking about how profit-seeking tech giants are reshaping our information ecosystems, but the same thing feels true of many parts of my life, and academic science in particular.

When we talk about how we keep our labs and organizations funded, or whether we will be able to cover the ever-increasing costs of food and transportation, much less the physical safety of loved ones near and far… it all starts feeling very overwhelming very quickly.

I don’t pretend to have answers, but I am able to keep going right now because I know that the fallacy of despair lies in its illusion of certainty. Yes, the old world is gone. No, we can no longer plan the way we could before. And no, we don’t know what comes next. But that’s no reason to give up–quite the opposite, really.

This was Year 2, Week 13. Let’s keep working the problems.

What happened in science & higher ed

• We’re still just starting to fully understand NIH funding losses from 2025, still worrying about whether 2026 funds will be disbursed, and are already bracing for further attempts to cut the next budget. One thing is very clear: the cuts, clawback, and chaos are disproportionately impacting researchers who aren’t white men. I wrote about some of the racial disparities last week. Now, a new analysis of grant terminations in the first half of 2025 highlights the toll on women, especially early career researchers. I agree that we must largely interpret these findings as evidence of existing structural issues, but we cannot ignore the administration’s vicious racism and overt discrimination, either. Just yesterday, a new executive order was issued, this time threatening federal contractors with lawsuits and penalties if they pursue racial equity in their recruitment, hiring, or contracting processes. Speaking of DEI, the leading accreditor of medical schools, LCME, has altered their teaching standards to remove health care disparities and health inequities. It’s hard not to draw direct connections among this, the May 2025 executive order targeting accreditors for their DEI initiatives, the recent escalation of threats against two of them, and the launch of three new investigations into medical schools this week. I also can’t help but wonder whether LCME would have also logged an important win if they’d only had the fortitude to refuse.
• After going on strike this week, NYU union members have secured “the highest minimum salaries of any unionized full-time, non-tenure track faculty in the country.” Meanwhile, faculty and staff layoffs loom at The New School, Portland State, and elsewhere. This feels like a good time to bookmark or download the new AAUP report on academic freedom and collective bargaining (PDF).
• The administration failed to nominate a new CDC director before Wednesday’s deadline, and NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya can no longer legally serve in the acting director role. In one small positive, he finally, definitely stated that it is vital for all children in this country to receive measles vaccines. The US has nearly 1,600 known cases of measles so far this year. The latest on this front is coming out of Utah, which is experiencing a worrying surge, including breakthrough infections among vaccinated clinical staff. The measles outbreak in Texas is ongoing, a new wastewater signal has emerged in New Jersey, and we know shockingly little about what’s happening in Florida. Happily, however, South Carolina reported no new cases this week—an incredible turnaround after providers had to examine patients in their cars to keep them from spreading infections in waiting rooms earlier this year. Finally, the CDC has released a new immunization report showing a decrease in coverage for flu and hepatitis B in young children. ProPublica has also just published a big piece modeling the likely deaths and disease burden we face, should the US lose access to vaccines on a large scale.
• One final thing. On the heels of historic March heatwaves, snowpack through much of the West is disastrously low. “Jaw-dropping” water forecasts have been issued, and the wildfire season is poised to be awful. I fear what federal emergency response will be, especially when private insurance costs are rising much faster than inflation.

And what’s next

Tomorrow (Saturday, March 28) is the next No Kings march, the third so far this year. There are more than 3,000 planned events happening. Virtual ADA compliant events are in the mix this time, including one hosted by Stand Up For Science. In a slightly different vein, Sam Wang is hosting a rally for neuroscience about research governance, legality of executive orders, grant funding, and more. Record-breaking crowds are anticipated in Minneapolis and across the country. Millions of people will come together for what will likely be the single largest day of protest in American history.

And then what? We keep going. There are No Kings-specific follow-up meetings that you can register for. I hope some of us do.

I hope others focus on creating positive pressure and permission structures in our departments, organizations, and local communities to make better choices. If you hated what I had to report today about DEI and discrimination, maybe you can find ways to support groups like SACNAS or ABRCMS. There are lots of ways for each of us to disrupt pernicious marketplaces of rationalizations in higher ed and institutional leadership.

Earlier this week, I shared a Bluesky thread that helped me refocus. Across several threads, Janne Korhonen argues, “When you hear the warnings beeping and flashing all the time, it is only a natural reaction to lose focus - and be paralysed by fear and despair. That's why airplanes, for example, have toggles that turn the alarms off. So that the pilots can concentrate better on working the problem. Pilots and especially astronauts are trained to "work the problem." Even, perhaps especially, if the situation seems truly hopeless. Because the only sure way to lose is to not even try.”

I needed to hear that, and it helped me remember that complex systems are genuinely unpredictable, which means that the worst is not locked in.

The future is ours to fight for.

Liz