Preaching humility, he inspired new levels of transparency in economics and other fields

Students, faculty and community members gathered in front of Sproul Hall on the UC Berkeley campus to support international students and protest threats by the Trump administration to cut federal funding to a growing number of elite universities.

At rallies across the United States, including Berkeley, San Francisco, and Palo Alto, communities gathered to defend scientific research against proposed federal funding cuts by the Trump administration.

Speaking to ABC7 News, Professor Ted Miguel emphasized the fundamental role of science in daily life, stating, “Science isn’t just some abstract thing. It’s what makes us healthy, it’s what makes us rich, it’s what gives us technology – it gives us our iPhone. So, if we attack it, we’re really not going to live the same kind of lives we want to live and I think it’s really dangerous.”

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) faces substantial budget reductions, jeopardizing research into critical diseases like Alzheimer’s, cancer, and heart disease. Since January, grant funding has been threatened, and thousands of scientific employees have lost their jobs, raising concerns about the long-term consequences.

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the NIH budget reductions, but the battle over funding continues.

The Stand Up For Science protest took place at UC Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza on Friday 7th March, with hundreds rallying before marching through campus. Part of a nationwide movement, the protest aimed to prevent political censorship in science, reinstate terminated federal employees, and restore research funding and DEI initiatives.

Ted Miguel joined the protest, standing in solidarity together with other students and faculty members from UC Berkeley. Speaking to The Daily Californian, Ted remarked, “First of all, we want to inform people. There have been such radical changes: firing government scientists, cutting government research grants — it’s been really devastating for scientific research and threatens the fact that our universities and scientific institutions are the best in the world.”

Other UC Berkeley speakers included Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna, Bryan Méndez and Rena Dorph who warned that funding cuts threaten their work and science education programs.

Co-sponsored by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), the protest featured chants like “save democracy, protect science.” Protesters argued that Trump’s policies undermine progress and economic growth, contradicting his promises of a “golden age of America.”