'This is a Chance to Build Something New': Stand Up for Science Rallies Around America’s Compact For Higher Education

Speakers highlighted importance of knowledge development; called on university leadership to stand support of academic freedom in higher ed.

WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, October 9, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- On the evening of October 7, Stand Up for Science hosted a virtual rally in support of its effort to increase public pressure on higher education leadership to defend academic freedom. SUFS published “America's Compact For Higher Education” last month, a set of basic agreements around the value of absolute academic freedom, knowledge, safety, and trust at U.S. universities and colleges.

The Compact rally drew attendees from around the country, bringing together education, labor, and science activists, university faculty and staff, and others concerned about preserving academic freedom. The one-hour event featured speakers Dr. Bruce Simon, President of the State University of New York (SUNY) Faculty Senate; Jenna Chernega, Vice Chair of Higher Ed Labor United; and Dr. Colette Delawalla, Founder and CEO of Stand Up for Science. They each spoke about the importance of preserving academic freedom and the concept of knowledge creation as a public good.

“It’s surprising that higher education has failed to come together in defense of academic freedom. If we’ve learned anything over the last year and a half, it’s that people power works!” said Colette Delawalla, who hosted the event, in her opening remarks.

“We see ourselves doing what any governance body should do, and we’re calling on others to join us,” Bruce Simon said, explaining why SUNY’s Faculty Senate is supporting America’s Compact. “Higher ed brings more to all of us than just the individual salary bumps that graduates have traditionally gotten,” he added.

“A better way forward is to say what we want higher ed to look like, versus just pushing back and saying ‘we don’t want to change’ — we need change to happen in a positive way. This is an opportunity to build something new,” said Chernega during the rally.

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 policy reform 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.

“This Compact opens the door for universities to respond to this administration’s actions towards higher education. America’s Compact is not about ideology—it’s a basic agreement for safety, public trust, academic freedom and the value of knowledge,” said Delawalla.

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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