About 230 academics from New Jersey (including both Rutgers and Princeton) sent a letter to Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim specifically detailing the Trump Administration’s threats to higher education.
The letter is printed below in its entirety, just days after Rutgers scholars rallied at the university’s campuses.
Scholars’ Letter to Senators Booker and Kim
Dear Senators Booker and Kim,
We write to you to express our deep concern for the stability of the higher education system in New Jersey in particular and the United States more broadly. The long-standing federal investment in public higher education through land-grant universities, as well as in research in the physical sciences, social sciences, and humanities in both public and private institutions, has been one of our country’s great achievements. Our institutions of higher learning are places where people from all over the world come to learn, teach, and expand the frontiers of human knowledge. This preeminence in education and research has had an immense positive impact on the people of New Jersey and the United States. All of this is under immediate threat because of the actions of the current presidential administration.
The work that we fear could be lost includes research that directly improves lives. During the darkest days of COVID-19, Rutgers University biomedical researchers were the fi rst to develop a saliva-based test, and researchers throughout the state worked tirelessly–and at great risk to themselves–to provide necessary tracking of the spread of the pandemic. Looking to future threats, New Jersey universities and affi liated labs have long played a critical role in understanding climate change, one of the most central long-term challenges facing the nation and the world.
Our universities are not just driving scientifi c advancement but are also acting as engines of innovation and economic growth. For example, every dollar of NIH research funding generates an estimated $2.46 in economic activity. Just as Silicon Valley could never have come to be without the presence of University of California, Berkeley and Stanford, the New Jersey pharmaceutical and food and agriculture industries exist in mutually benefi cial relationship with the innovative researchers at Rutgers, Princeton, NJIT, TCNJ, Stevens Institutes of Technology, Montclair State University, Rowan University, and other higher education institutions in the state.
In addition to the social good and economic value they generate, our universities draw scientists and scholars from around the world because of the quality of the scholarship done here. Some stay, and in staying enrich our state and our nation through their work and their accomplishments. Some return to their home countries, and act as ambassadors for the best qualities of America.
We list these accomplishments of the United States higher education system and the benefi ts they produce for the nation because of the existential threat they are facing from the current administration. Concern for the long-term strength of our institutions of higher education is nothing new, and in better
times, we would welcome an opportunity to discuss how our great universities could be improved and how the educational opportunities could be made more affordable and more accessible to every resident of our state. However, the crisis we face is immediate and far more wide-ranging.
We are profoundly alarmed by the actions of the administration, such as:
● The freezing of federal funding and payments, both from direct funders of research such as the Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, and National Institutes of Health but also to essential services such as WIC, Veterans’ Affairs, NOAA, and Medicare.
● Demands to eliminate legally mandated support for underrepresented groups, such as gender-affi rming health care for trans people and protections for LGBTQ+ people.
● The threatened termination of funding to study critically important areas such as climate change, childhood cancer, vaccines, and infectious diseases.
● The attempt to massively and unilaterally downsize staffi ng at key federal agencies, including those funding scientifi c research.
● The unilateral and abrupt reduction of NIH indirect costs, upending the funding model that has supported our research universities for decades. If allowed to proceed, these reductions are likely to lead to substantial layoffs at research universities and hospitals through the state, with profoundly negative economic impacts.
University research and scholarship operate on a time scale of years and decades. Higher education would become impossible in the face of capricious and arbitrary withholding of funding, elimination of entire areas of grant support for critical scientifi c research, and cancellation of long-held contracts. In the face of this uncertainty, the best scientists, the best scholars, and the best students will make the rational decision to take their talents elsewhere. Once lost, the historic excellence of United States universities, including world-leading institutions in New Jersey, both public and private, will not be easily regained.
We ask you to take all possible actions to ensure that existing laws governing the distribution of scientifi c and education funds be upheld and reaffi rmed. We ask that you use the power and prominence of your position to bring national attention to the dangerous and unprecedented attacks on Congress’s Constitutional authority by President Trump and Elon Musk. We ask you to protest the compromise of critical government databases, including those containing the fi nancial aid information of our students and the Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement information of our patients.
Congress cannot conduct business as usual while the rule of law is under assault. We ask you to respond with the urgency and determination that the moment demands.
Scholars’ Letter Signers
Matthew Buckley, Associate Professor, Rutgers University
Robert Kopp, Distinguished Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Rutgers University
Derek Sant’Angelo, Professor and Division Chief, Pediatrics, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical
School
Eric Tate, Professor of Public Affairs, Princeton University
Lisa Klein, Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, Rutgers University
Tara Matise, Chair of Department of SAS Genetics, Rutgers University
Rebecca Givan, Associate Professor, Rutgers University
Danbee Kim, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Daniel Jones, Chair of Surgery, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Kim Lane Scheppele, Rockefeller Professor of Sociology and International Affairs, Princeton University
Marybeth Gasman, Samuel DeWitt Proctor Endowed Chair and Distinguished Professor, Rutgers
University
Michael E. Shapiro, Professor of Surgery, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Michael G. Dunn, Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Maureen Barr, Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University
Rebecca Carey, Assistant Professor, Princeton University
Mark Granick, Professor of Surgery, Medical Director of the University Hospital Wound Center, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Michael Sturman, Distinguished Professor and Department Chair, Rutgers University
Elke Weber, Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor of Energy and Environment, Princeton University
John Higgins, Professor, Princeton University
Bonnie Bassler, Squibb Professor and Chair,
Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University
Samuel Wang, Professor, Princeton University
Frieder Jaekle, Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University
Douglas Kruse, Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University
Cherisse Berry, Vice Chair, Academic Affairs, Professor of Surgery; Director of Research, Eric Munoz Trauma Center-University Hospital, Newark, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Adrienne Eaton, Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University
Bess B. Ward, William J. Sinclair Professor of Geosciences, Princeton University
Colm Atkins, Research Associate, Rutgers University
Flavio Paterno, Associate Professor of Surgery, RutgersUniversity
Eric Gawiser, Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University
Rebecca Marzec-Young, Research Teaching Specialist, Rutgers University
David Vanderbilt, Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University
Lauren Feldman, Professor and Department Chair, Journalism & Media Studies, Rutgers University
Frank Edwards, Associate Professor, Rutgers University
Molly Crockett, Associate Professor of Psychology, Princeton University
Michelle Gittelman, Associate Professor, Rutgers University
Andrew Shankman, Professor of History and Department Chair, Rutgers University-Camden
Olivia Cannon, Graduate Worker, Rutgers University
Utz Herbig, Associate Professor, Rutgers Health
Betsy Levy Paluck, Professor, Princeton University
Edward Baring, Associate Professor of History and Human Values, Princeton University
Tara Kelley, Librarian, Rutgers University
Jason Silver, Associate Professor, Rutgers University-Newark
Erin Kelly, Associate Teaching Professor, Rutgers University
Ning Lin, Professor, Princeton University
Andrés Morera, Research Associate, Rutgers University
Elizabeth Stone, Instructor, Rutgers University
Esra Sefik, Postdoctoral Researcher, Princeton University
Jennifer Miles, Instructor, Rutgers University
Lisa Denzin, Associate Professor, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
David Dubnau, Professor, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Stanley Thermidor, Teaching Assistant, Rutgers University-Newark
Keri E. Lunsford, Director of Translational and Surgical Science, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical
School
Melissa Rogers, Associate Professor, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Ira Roseman, Professor of Psychology, Rutgers University-Camden
Andrew White, Graduate Student, New Jersey Institute of Technology
Stan Weuss, Professor, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Ravi Mill, Assistant Research Professor, Rutgers University-Newark
Jeanette Hahn, Assistant Research Professor, Rutgers University
Elizabeth R. Gavis, Professor, Princeton University
Eugenie Dubnau, Scientific Staff, Rutgers University
Gloria Rosriguez, Associate Professor, Rutgers University
Alayna Kacerja, Grant Coordinator, Rowan University
Asif Ghazanfar, Professor of Neuroscience, Princeton University
Joshua Atkinson, Assistant Professor, Princeton University
Maria Laura Gennaro, Professor, Rutgers University
Joel Freundlich, Professor, Rutgers University
Jeff Boyd, Associate Professor, Rutgers University
Matthew Neiditch, Professor, Rutgers University
Dirk F. Moore, Associate Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Rutgers University
Elissa Kozlov, Assistant Professor, Rutgers University
Judith Graber, Associate Professor, Rutgers University
Shauna Downs, Associate Professor, Rutgers University
Ollie Ganz, Assistant Professor, Rutgers University
Melissa Feinberg, Professor of History, Rutgers University
Sophie Astrof, Associate Professor, Rutgers University
Stephan Schwander, Associate Professor, Rutgers School of Public Health
Carol Lutz, Faculty, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Olivia Wackowski, Associate Professor, Rutgers University
Ayana April-Sanders, Instructor, Rutgers University
Erica Eliason, Assistant Professor, Rutgers University
Grace Lee-Riddle, Assistant Professor, Rutgers University
Kristin August, Professor, Rutgers University-Camden Sopio Simonishvili, Research Associate and Lab
Manager, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Liangyuan Hu, Associate Professor, Rutgers University
Germaine Smart-Marshall, Graduate Student, Princeton University
Christopher Varsanyi, PhD Candidate, Rutgers University
Nadezhda Fefelova, Research Associate III, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Sylvia Christakos, Distinguished Professor, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Ellen C. Francis, Assistant Professor, Rutgers University
Caroline Jahn, Academic Research Manager, Princeton University
Tali Mendelberg, John Work Garrett Professor of Politics, Princeton University
Adele Goldberg, M. Taylor Pyne Professor of Psychology, Princeton University
Veronika Miskolci, Assistant Professor, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Andreas Ivessa, Adjunct-Assistant Professor, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences
Joanelle Bailey, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Robert Laumbach, Associate Professor, Rutgers University
Frederik J. Simons, Professor, Princeton University
David Wilcove, Professor of Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Public Affairs, Princeton University
Jared Khan, Research Coordinator, Rutgers University
Michael Oppenheimer, Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs, Princeton University
Nicole Raia, Adjunct Lecturer, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Rosa Messina, Program Coordinator, Rutgers Cancer Institute, Iris M. Pena, Program Assistant, Rutgers University
Monica Ausby, Program Assistant, Rutgers University
Mara Sheftel, Instructor, Rutgers University
Alex Papachristodoulou, Assistant Professor, Rutgers University
Hillary Samples, Assistant Professor, Rutgers University
Michelle Bover Manderski, Assistant Professor, Rutgers University
Laura Weigert, Professor, Rutgers University
Denise Golonka, Mental Health Clinician II, Rutgers University Behavioral Healthcare
Elissa Kozlov, Assistant Professor, Rutgers School of Public Health
Sean T. Mitchell, Associate Professor, Rutgers University-Newark
Charlotte Markey, Professor of Psychology, Rutgers University-Camden
Tamara Lee, Associate Professor, Rutgers University
Janice Fine, Professor, Rutgers University
Paula Voos, Professor, School of Management and Labor Relations, Rutgers University
Stephanie Shiau, Assistant Professor, Rutgers University
Naomi R. Williams, Assistant Professor, Rutgers University
Erik Nook, Assistant Professor, Princeton University
Vanessa LoBue, Professor, Rutgers University
Jacqueline Thaw, Associate Professor, Rutgers University
Benjamin Bradlow, Assistant Professor of Sociology and International Affairs, Princeton University
Rachael Shwom, Professor, Rutgers University
Bradley Dickerson, Assistant Professor, Princeton University
Jodi Schottenfeld-Roames, Senior Lecturer, Princeton University
Judy Vincenty, LCSW, Rutgers University
Victoria McGeer, Senior Research Scholar, Princeton University
Jordan Taylor, Professor, Princeton University
Sabine Kastner, Professor, Princeton University
Patricia Fernandez-Kelly, Professor of Sociology, Princeton University
Andrea Villanti, Professor, Rutgers University
Wendy Swartz, Professor, Department Chair, Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Kristopher Velasco, Assistant Professor, Princeton University
Casey Lew-Williams, Professor, Princeton University
Uri Hasson, Professor, Princeton University
Ilana Witten, Professor, Princeton University
Lakme Caceres, Research Specialist, Princeton University
Drew Curran, Computational Research, Princeton University
Edward Lee, Associate Professor, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Francisco Alvarado, Assistant Professor, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Ashley Ignatiuk, Faculty, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Anuj Shah, Associate Professor, Princeton University
Coleen Murphy, Director, LSI Genomics and James A. Elkins, Jr. Professor in the Life Sciences, Princeton University
Molly Greene, Professor, Princeton University
Cecilia Hanna, Ph.D. student, Princeton University
Maria Gabriela Nouzeilles, Professor, Princeton University
Anthar Darwish, Lecturer, Molecular Biology, Princeton University
Barbara Nagel, Associate Professor, Princeton University
Wendy Belcher, Professor, Princeton University
Aaron Landsman, Lecturer, Princeton University
Zahid Chaudhary, Associate Professor, Princeton University
Jesse Jenkins, Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University
Gyan Prakash, Dayton-Stockton Professor of History, Princeton University
Rachael DeLue, Professor, Princeton University
Mark Beissinger, Henry W. Putnam Professor of Politics, Princeton University
Bryan Lowe, Associate Professor, Department of Religion, Princeton University
Joye Anestis, Associate Professor, Rutgers University
Judith Weisenfeld, Agate Brown and George L. Collord Professor of Religion, Princeton University
David M. Hughes, Professor, Anthropology, Rutgers University
Arcadio Díaz-Quiñones, Emeritus Professor, Spanish and Portuguese, Princeton University
Meredith Martin, Professor, Princeton University
Tania Lombrozo, Professor of Psychology, Princeton University
Craig Marshall, Lecturer, Princeton University
Huzaifa Shakir, Associate Professor, Rutgers University
LaFleur Stephens-Dougan, Associate Professor, Princeton University
Alex Wong, Associate Professor, Rutgers University
Daniel Notterman, Faculty, Princeton University
Elijah Riddle, Assistant Professor, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Melissa Grigsby, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Salewa Oseni, Attending Surgeon, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Kayla Aksan, Graduate Student, Princeton University
Alberto Bruzos Moro, Director, Spanish Language Program, Princeton University
Sandra Geiger, Postdoctoral Researcher, Princeton University
Judy Kim, Postdoctoral Researcher, Princeton University
Rebecca Jones, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Princeton University
Aaron Pfennig, Postdoctoral Researcher, Princeton University
Daniel Dutcher, Associate Research Scholar, Princeton University
Theodoros Ilias, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Princeton University
Rachel Bedder, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Princeton University
Natalia Vélez, Assistant Professor, Psychology, Princeton University
Ryan A. Manzuk, Postdoctoral Researcher, Princeton University
Nancy Fiedler, Professor, Rutgers University
Amna Liaqat, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Princeton University
Susan Sugarman, Professor of Psychology, Princeton University
William Gleason, Professor, Princeton University
Peter Yonclas, Associate Professor of Surgery and PMR, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Lindsay Becker, Postdoctoral Fellow, Princeton University
Andrew Leifer, Associate Professor, Physics and Neuroscience, Princeton University
Mohan W. Gupta, Postdoctoral Associate, Princeton University
Agustín Fuentes, Professor, Anthropology, Princeton University
Melissa Alvarez-Downing, Assistant Professor, Surgery, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Rachel Price, Associate Professor, Princeton University
Samuel Eastman, Postdoctoral Researcher, Princeton University
Aleksandar Hemon, Professor, Princeton University
Joel Cooper, Professor, Princeton University
Lisa Boulanger, Associate Professor, Princeton University
Michael Strauss, Professor, Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University
John P. Hughes, Chair and Distinguished Professor, Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University
Andrew Baker, Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University
Saurabh W. Jha, Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University
Beth Semel, Assistant Professor, Princeton University
Young-mee Yu Cho, Professor, Rutgers University
Suzy Kim, Professor, Rutgers University
Harrison Ritz, Associate Research Scholar, Princeton University
Margaret Martonosi, Professor, Computer Science, Princeton University
Alex Johnson, Postdoctoral Researcher, Princeton University
Laura Lynch, Laboratory Technician/Manager, Princeton University
Adel Ardalan, Associate Research Scholar, Princeton University
Alyson Brooks, Associate Professor, Rutgers University
Abby Notterman, Lecturer, Princeton University
Melissa Tier, PhD Candidate, School of Public & International Affairs, Princeton University
Jack Markowitz, PhD Student, Princeton University
Nancy Coffin, Senior Lecturer, Princeton University
Wouter Haverals, Associate Research Scholar, Princeton University
Beth Lew-Williams, Professor, History, Princeton University
Rachit Dubey, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Princeton University
Karin McDonald, Lecturer, Princeton University
Anna Konvicka, Graduate Student, Princeton University
Fariha Sheikh, Assistant Professor, Surgery, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Miriam Rosenberg-Lee, Associate Professor, Rutgers University, Newark
Simon Levin, Professor, Princeton University
Tiago Simões, Assistant Professor, Princeton University
C. Jessica Metcalf, Professor, Ecology, Evolutionary, Biology, and Public Affairs, Princeton University
Elke Weber, Professor, Princeton University
Andy Dobson, Professor, Princeton University
Heather Thieringer, University Lecturer, Princeton University
Ewa Dziedzic-Elliott, Education Librarian, The College of New Jersey
Jane Cox, Director of the Program in Theater and Music Theater, Princeton University
Tess James, Lecturer, Princeton University
Christina Riehl, Associate Professor, Princeton University
Jeff Dolven, Professor, Princeton University
Philip Pettit, L.S.Rockefeller University Professor of Human Values, Princeton University
Catherine Monteleone, Professor of Medicine, Rutgers
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Venkat Venkataraman, Director, Medical Scholarship, Rowan University
Emanuel Goldman, Professor, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
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In recent weeks, scholars in New Jersey have been seeking help in response to threats from both President Trump and the cryptocurrency Dogecoin (DOGE). The threats have raised concerns among academics and researchers in the state, prompting calls for increased security measures and support.
President Trump’s recent attacks on academia have been well-documented, with his administration targeting universities and research institutions for funding cuts and other punitive measures. This has created a climate of fear and uncertainty among scholars, who worry about the future of their work and the impact of political interference on academic freedom.
At the same time, the rise of Dogecoin as a popular cryptocurrency has also posed a threat to scholars in New Jersey. The volatile nature of the digital currency has led to concerns about financial stability and security, particularly for those who rely on grants and funding for their research.
In response to these threats, scholars in New Jersey have been reaching out for help and support. Many have called for increased security measures on campus, including enhanced surveillance and cybersecurity protocols. Others have sought assistance from local law enforcement agencies and government officials to address the threats and ensure the safety of academic research.
In addition to security concerns, scholars are also looking for ways to protect their funding and financial resources in the face of political and economic uncertainty. Some have turned to alternative sources of funding, such as crowdfunding platforms and private donors, to ensure the continuation of their research projects.
Overall, the threats from President Trump and Dogecoin have highlighted the need for increased vigilance and support for scholars in New Jersey. By working together and seeking help from various sources, academics and researchers can better protect themselves and their work in an increasingly challenging environment.
