Demonstrators took to Raleigh’s Moore Square Tuesday to protest the Trump administration’s proposed cuts to research, health care and education funding.
The event, which took place from 3 to 6 p.m., was one of several nationwide “Kill the Cuts” rallies on the Higher Ed Labor United national day of action. Demonstrations occurred in over 30 cities across the country.
The Raleigh demonstration was organized by the North Carolina State University Graduate Workers Union, Workers Union at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke Graduate Students Union.
The protests supported a reversal of the Trump administration’s proposed funding cuts to the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the Department of Education. According to the Kill the Cuts website, the plans are “abandoning families who are suffering and costing taxpayers billions of dollars.”
If the cuts are implemented, rally organizers cited risks to “millions” of families relying on treatments supported by NIH-funded research and communities sustained by research-driven economic activity, as well as students and workers in higher education.
One proposed cut would cap NIH research funds’ indirect cost rates for facilities and administration at 15%, impacting coverage for buildings, maintenance and support staff. At Duke, the indirect cost reimbursement rate is currently 61%.
Over fiscal year 2023-24, the University received 1,008 NIH awards amounting to over $580 million in research funding. The reimbursement cut could eliminate $194 million in annual NIH funding to Duke alone.
“This abrupt shift in policy would significantly slow or halt discovery in critical areas such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, infectious diseases and pediatric health,” wrote President Vincent Price, Provost Alec Gallimore, Mary Klotman, executive vice president for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, and Craig Albanese, CEO of the Duke University Health System, in a Feb. 12 email to Duke community members.
A federal judge temporarily blocked the proposed cuts Feb. 10 amid lawsuits from 22 states, including North Carolina. Still, according to Duke researchers, the federal attack resulted in a pause on NIH grant-reviewing meetings, interrupting the cadence of the research process. Others expressed uncertainty about the availability of future NIH funding for their projects.
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Winston Qian is a Pratt sophomore and health/science editor for the news department.