# @chapelboronews on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DQZUpPljbn0
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/36294086-chapelboronews-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/70bc85e6d5.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-10-29T13:58:24.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Chapelboro.com (@chapelboronews) — https://gondola.cc/chapelboronews

## Caption

Indivisible Orange County recently hosted a rally in support of academic freedom in higher education. The local event worked to raise awareness about increasing government restrictions on educational content and reductions in federal education funding, particularly at UNC and public universities.

On Friday, several dozen community members, university students, and faculty gathered at 140 West Franklin Street to hear and share words of support at the Right to Light demonstration. Co-Director of Civic Engagement for UNC Young Democrats Emma Cecchini is one student who spoke at the event, and she explained how she thinks nearly every Carolina student currently feels a threat to higher education.

“UNC is constantly ranked among the top universities for research, but 38.4 million dollars in research funding was cut by the Trump administration,” Cecchini said. “I guarantee that if you walk around campus and just ask random students, ‘Hey, how has the Trump funding cuts affected you?’ I guarantee almost all of them will start going on a rant about how it has affected them and how upset they are.

Cecchini said the consequences of federal budget cuts often include research left undone, paid internships turned unpaid, and dreams deferred, which she said is what happened to her last year.

She explained how there are not many undergraduate opportunities for anthropology students like her, so when her mentor had sent along a paid internship opportunity in Senegal, Cecchini said she had eagerly applied for it.

“After submitting everything, I received an email a few weeks later saying that the fellowship had to be put on hold due to the changes in federal policy,” Cecchini said. “Those changes in federal policy were the Trump administration’s funding cuts. Cuts that froze programs, delayed grants, and made it harder for young people like me to pursue education, research, and international collaboration.”

It was the first time the program shut down in its 30-year history, Cecchini said.

Full story on Chapelboro.com.
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#unc #chapelhill #indivisible #northcarolina #nc #nchighered #highereducation

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## Tags

nchighered, highereducation, chapelhill, northcarolina, nc, indivisible, unc

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