In Case You Missed It: March

Trump Admin Freezes UPenn Funding for Failure to Predict the Future

by Ellis Morten  

The government is whipping up the culture war in Philadelphia yet again, this time ordering the University of Pennsylvania to pause several research projects because a transgender athlete won a medal.

It really is that ridiculous. In addition to a $175 million funding freeze, Penn could lose a further $240 million. Currently, the Trump administration is trying to cut off the university’s indirect research expenses as well, which come in through the National Institutes of Health.

There were stop work orders for research on “preventing hospital-acquired infections, drug screening against deadly viruses, quantum computing, protections against chemical warfare, and student loan programs,” according to a memo written by the university’s President.

Penn officials stated they heard about the freeze at the same time as the public, when Fox Business reported on March 19 that this was a “proactive punishment,” and the White House jeered “promises made, promises kept” on Twitter. 

To be clear, Trump only recently changed the standards for transgender athletes on college campuses, signing an executive order “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” on February 5, 2025. 

This directive allows the federal government to probe universities with the same standards laid out in the January 20, 2025 executive order (Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government). Former UPenn athlete Lia Thomas is specifically cited in the announcement.

On February 6, 2025, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) opened an investigation on the university, citing violations of Title IX.

Many of us know Lia Thomas’s story, and there’s no reason to play into the Trump administration’s hands by rehashing old arguments. However, it’s important to stress how extraordinarily petty this decision is; Thomas has not competed for Penn in three years.

A particularly notable part of this executive order is the administration’s stated intentions to “promote, including at the United Nations, international rules and norms governing sports competition.” This stance serves doubly to legitimize Trump’s fascism into a valorized, moral position. Rhetorically, it elevates these actions into a global movement and shifts the focus, as always, onto a marginalized community’s tenuous social status. Additionally, it’s a threat, and should be taken as such.

It should surprise no one that Penn offered no pushback to blatant bigotry. As of writing, the school has promised they “now comply with the NCAA policy and the law as they exist today.”  For all their eagerness to comply, the federal government still retroactively punished them.

In response Penn’s board members and President are diverting their salaries to help recoup losses. Just kidding. They will pause some mid-year raises, while also implementing a hiring freeze and auditing some of their programs.

“Too little, too late”: the Academy responds to the detainment of Hamdan Ballal

By Lemon

On March 2nd No Other Land was presented with the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards. The film’s four directors took to the stage to accept their award, calling for an end to the ethnic cleansing and military repression of the Palestinian people. Less than a month later, one of the directors would be assaulted and arrested by Israeli forces.

On March 24th Hamdan Ballal was attacked by Israeli settlers at his Susya home in the West Bank. The assailants initially targeted his neighbors, two farmers in their 60s, until Ballal attempted to record the attack, at which point the soldiers present beat him and took him into custody. 

One of Ballal’s co-directors, Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham, broke the story on X. “They beat him and he has injuries in his head and stomach,” Abraham posted on the 24th, provoking outcry. The peace activist group the Center for Jewish Nonviolence subsequently posted footage taken of the attack, verified by CNN. The video shows not only the attack on Ballal himself, but also stones thrown at the camera by a masked individual. Israeli forces reported that they detained three Palestinians who were throwing rocks at soldiers, referring to the detainees as “terrorists” and describing the following attack as a “mutual […] violent confrontation,” a claim which Ballal has firmly denied. While detained, he overheard the soldiers using his name and the word “Oscar.” As he told the Associated Press following his release on the 25th, “when they say ‘Oscar,’ you understand. When they say your name, you understand”. 

Amnesty International addressed the attack in a tweet on the 25th, linking the targeting of Ballal to the death of two Palestinian journalists a day prior. It comes in a long line of attempts to create a media blackout on the ground in Gaza, eliminating Palestinian voices and ceding ground to IDF propaganda. While Ballal has been awarded some degree of fame in Hollywood for his role in crafting an award-winning film, his status as a Palestinian person makes him a target for the Israeli military, particularly given his prominence as a voice for justice and peace. 

American institutions have also been at the receiving end of increased scrutiny in the wake of this attack. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences came under fire for their initial, tepid response to Ballal’s assault. While other organizations in the industry such as the European Film Academy and International Documentary Association spoke out against Ballal’s treatment at the hands of Israeli forces, the Academy’s statement did not mention Ballal by name. “The Academy condemns harming or suppressing artists for their work or their viewpoints,” the letter read, but added, “it is important to note that the Academy represents close to 11,000 global members with many unique viewpoints”. This was met with reproach, with one Academy member describing the gesture as too little, too late. By the 28th the Academy issued a second statement apologizing for not naming Ballal and his film in its original release, clarifying that it “[stands] in condemnation of the brutal assault and unlawful detention of Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal by settlers and Israeli forces in the West Bank”. This second statement was met with praise and support by a contingent of the industry who had called for a more robust response, but still raises the question: is late better than never?

Seeking Cover and Fighting Inequality: Philadelphia’s Tree Problem

By Kevin Carlson

The city of Philadelphia unveiled the Philly Tree Plan in 2023 with the goal of increasing tree cover in every neighborhood to 30% by 2035. The plan faces many challenges, though, Such as whether the city will receive funds from the $12 million federal grant expected to help implement the plan. President Donald Trump issued a memo in January ordering a pause on federal grant payments. The memo has since been rescinded; however, Trump is still directing agencies and departments to implement a vigorous review of grant funding. 

Additionally, tree plants have to be approved by property owners. Since yard trees are the responsibility of property owners, they can be reluctant to approve planting new trees, which can become a burden when they impact sidewalks and water service lines. Renters, once again, are left with less power to improve their community.

Challenges like these will make it harder for the plan to achieve its goals, especially in lower income neighborhoods that have historically been redlined. 

At first glance, having more trees may seem more like a facile improvement rather than a substantial issue. However, tree cover has an impact on our overall health. Residents in neighborhoods with more tree cover experience better health “primarily through lower overweight/obesity and better social cohesion, and to a lesser extent through less type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and asthma.” This is likely because neighborhoods with more tree cover and vegetation incentivize spending more time in public spaces, engaging in physical activity, and maintaining social ties. Moreover, Philly neighborhoods with less tree cover have to endure higher temperatures during the summer (up to a 22 degree difference) and see fewer economic opportunities. 

Without the money from the federal grant, it makes you wonder whether the city will be able to meet its goal or keep its promise to maintain the trees we have already. If not, the plan will become another reminder of how the government continues to overpromise and underdeliver, even on issues like this one which received so much community input and support. 

Despite this, Philadelphians have other means of improving their community without the help of the government. While tree cover is important, so is other greenery. 

A great place to start is connecting to a community garden, as they not only provide the benefits of seeing greenery, but also become a great way to tangibly benefit from the effort invested into them. For example, the Carousel House Farm distributes fruits and vegetables while also having educational and job programs for people of all ages. 

Also consider starting a windowsill garden. Although on a much smaller scale, growing even one or two items can still help you and your neighbors. Your plants, though not in a public space, can be seen by your neighbors whether you have them on your windowsill or hanging outside the window. If you end up growing more than you would use, share them with family, friends, and neighbors. Don’t worry about needing a green thumb. You can start with easy to care for garden plants.

Maintaining the trees and other greenery we do have is also important. While the city did plant 3700 trees in 2024 under the Philly Tree Plan, they’ve also cut down hundreds of trees since 2022. Volunteering or applying for a job with the Fairmount Park Conservancy or the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society is a great way to keep up with what’s going on around the city. If you’re just looking to ease in and learn more about edible plants, the Wild Foodies meetup might be more your vibe.

Scientists march for job security and everyone’s healthcare

By Jasper

There was a large national protest March 7th against the Trump administration’s recent attacks on scientific and medical research. About 1000 people were at the Philadelphia City Hall for the Stand Up for Science Rally, with more in other cities on the same day. Many people in the crowd were scientists and healthcare workers attending with coworkers. 

Demonstrators’ main concerns involved continued National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for scientific research. Between the inauguration and March 7th, the Trump administration had cancelled NIH grants associated with DEI and/or climate change; paused external expert peer review of new NIH grant applications in general; greatly reduced the fraction of NIH grant money that can be spent on nonscientific expenses necessary for research, such as paying building maintenance workers; and cancelled PEPFAR and USAID funding, making HIV medications much harder to access in many African countries. 

In the time since, multiple scientists have had student and worker visas revoked for pro-Palestine social media posts. The Trump administration has also cut NIH funding or threatened to cut funding to universities for stated reasons ranging from “insufficient brutality towards pro-Palestine students and protestors” to “tolerated a trans female student athlete.” 

Notable speakers at the Philadelphia March 7th rally included a chemist and member of the Penn graduate workers’ UAW local, Councilmember Nic O’Rourke on DEI in biomedical science as a necessary response to histories of unethical and racist medical experimentation, and a neuroscience postdoc whose studies on effects of hormones (relevant to HRT, birth control, menopause, and PCOS) Trump has mocked for involving “transgender mice.”

Fascistic austerity cuts to healthcare infrastructure get people killed. A major difference between 2025 Stand Up for Science and the 2017 March for Science (which many of the same people attended, some of them liberals who attended no other protests between 2017 and 2025) is that biomedical research workers are now much more materially under attack. There’s a critical need for longevity and connection to other social movements. Stand Up for Science members are also involved in planning the upcoming April 8th Day of Action (killthecuts.org) in coalition with education workers’ unions.