Stand Up for Science to Rally Scientists and Academic Leaders Against Trump Admin's Higher Ed Crackdown

Virtual rally follows 2025 Ed Compact anniversary; calls on university leadership to reject administration’s demands and defend academic freedom.

WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, September 29, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- On October 7, Stand Up for Science will host an accessible virtual rally to increase public pressure on higher education leadership to defend academic freedom from the Trump administration’s attempts to force policy reform at universities and colleges. The rally comes one week after the anniversary of the Department of Education’s first attempted Higher Ed Compact, released on October 1, 2025.

The event will feature speakers from Stand Up for Science, endorsing organizations, and academic leaders continuing to raise the alarm about the administration's attempts to dismantle academic freedom. Scheduled speakers will be announced soon. Stand Up for Science will also announce new endorsing organizations during the rally.

The virtual rally is open to anyone interested in preserving academic freedom and knowledge creation at U.S. universities and colleges. Members of the press are also invited to attend.

Stand Up for Science drafted “America's Compact For Higher Education” in partnership with academic leaders and Nobel Laureates, in response to the Department of Education’s attempts to install the Trump administration’s agenda at U.S. universities. America’s Compact lays out the agreed terms and conditions for absolute academic freedom and independence across all the colleges and universities in the U.S. Stand Up for Science invites the public to read the Compact and use the embedded tool to send it to their university leaders, urging them to endorse it.

What: Virtual Rally: America's Compact for Higher Education
Who: Stand Up for Science
When: Wednesday, October 7, 2026, 7-8 p.m. Eastern
Where: Virtual/online – register to attend here.
Accessibility: ASL interpretation and multi-language automatic captioning

###

Stand Up for Science is a grassroots, Washington, D.C. based, non-profit organization mobilizing the fight for science and democracy. Stand Up for Science was formed in February 2025 in response to actions affecting federal science agencies and funding of the American scientific ecosystem. On March 7th, Stand Up for Science mobilized over 50,000 people at 170+ events across the world on its first National Day of Action. Federal scientists across multiple agencies (NIH, EPA, NASA, FEMA) have chosen Stand Up for Science as the platform to publish their open letters of concern. Stand Up for Science is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization [EIN: 33-4154429] and donations are not tax-deductible.

Char Bowling
Stand Up for Science
media@standupforscience.net