They Came for the Scientists
When silence becomes the habit of the learned, truth disappears and with it the soul of democracy.
Inspired by Pastor Martin Niemöller’s warning against silence, this poem confronts a new age in which science itself has become political terrain, a lament for those silenced, and for those who mistook neutrality for safety as academic freedom and courage faltered.
First, they came for affirmative action,
And I did not speak out
Because I was not Black.
Then they came for the critical race theorists,
And I did not speak out
Because I did not study race.
Then they came for gender studies and LGBTQ+ scholarship,
And I did not speak out
Because I did not study gender.
Then they came for the woke scholars in the humanities,
And I did not speak out
Because I thought science was neutral.
Then they came for academic freedom,
And I did not speak out
Because I thought my research was safe.
Then they defunded the arts and humanities,
And I did not speak out
Because I was in STEM.
Then they cut public university funding,
And I did not speak out
Because my institution was wealthy.
Then they came for the student protesters,
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a student.
Then they came for the immigrants,
And I did not speak out
Because I was not an immigrant.
Then they tightened visa restrictions,
And I did not speak out
Because I was a citizen.
Then they came for the scholars from so-called “enemy” nations,
And I did not speak out
Because I did not have collaborators from those countries.
Then they silenced university-led climate research,
And I did not speak out
Because I did not study the environment.
Then they attacked tenure and faculty governance,
And I did not speak out
Because I thought my job was secure.
Then they appointed political and corporate operatives to university boards,
And I did not speak out
Because I thought governance did not affect my work.
Then they came for the deans and presidents who dared to speak truth,
And I did not speak out
Because I thought leadership was insulated from politics.
Then they cut federal research grants overnight,
And I did not speak out
Because I believed the system would correct itself.
Then they invoked my dean’s words to justify falsehoods,
And I did not speak out
Because I thought evidence would speak for itself.
Then they audited our grants, demanded every ten dollars be explained,
And I did not speak out
Because I thought accountability meant transparency, not control.
Then they targeted foreign-born scientists,
And I did not speak out
Because I had become a citizen.
Then they warned that “some research was unworthy of federal funds,”
And I did not speak out
Because I thought our findings were above ideology.
Then they offered a Compact for Academic Excellence, a bargain of silence for survival,
And I did not speak out
Because I thought the university would never sign.
Then they declared that truth itself must serve the state,
And I did not speak out
Because I still believed discovery could never be political.
Then they came for the agencies funding my research,
And there was no one left
To speak out for me.
This poem was inspired by Katherine J. Wu’s “What Happens When Trump Gets His Way With Science” (The Atlantic, October 16, 2025), Evan Goldstein’s “Two People Are in Jail Because of Threats Against Me” (The Chronicle of Higher Education, October 16, 2025), Claire Murphy’s “Penn’s President Declines Trump’s Compact Offer” (The Chronicle of Higher Education, October 16, 2025), and Adam Sitze’s “Hate the Compact? Start Building a Better Case for Academic Freedom” (Times Higher Education, October 16, 2025).