We The People Cache Valley-A Community advocating for Democracy: 04/13/25

Save Utah Humanities

DOGE Cuts to Utah Humanities will Impact Cultural Organizations in Every Corner of the State

We need your help to preserve Utah Humanities and the local community-building work we have loved and valued for 50 years.

On Wednesday, April 2nd, Utah Humanities (UH) received notification that our National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant had been terminated by DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency).

The loss of NEH funding to UH will decimate our ability to serve Utah communities, eliminating programs and partnerships that are essential to our cultural infrastructure.

With this loss of funding, Utahns will no longer have access to:

Grants that support local humanities programming
History programs commemorating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence including our upcoming tour of the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street exhibit, Voices and Votes
Vital support for students with aspirations to attend college
Capacity building training and resources for rural museums and historical societies
Community Conversations programming to bring different viewpoints together to discuss important Utah issues
The statewide Utah Humanities Book Festival and Utah Book Awards
AND SO MUCH MORE

Without NEH funding, we will lose our ability to provide grants and programs that educate, inspire, and bring communities together. At UH, we work with over 100 partners each year and match at least $2 in private investment for every $1 of federal support. The ripple effects of these cuts will be felt in every corner of the state.

What Can You do to Protect Utah Humanities?

We need every humanities supporter to make their voice heard. Here are actions you can take NOW:

STEP 1: Call or message your U.S. senators and representatives and urge them to protect the NEH and Utah Humanities. Refer to the document linked below for Utah's elected officials' phone numbers.

You can use this form from the National Humanities Alliance to contact your member of the U.S. Congress. Feel free to replace the text with your own personal message or paste the Utah-specific script (available below).

STEP 2: Call or message your state and local elected officials and let them know how this loss of funds will impact your community. You can use this form to contact Governor Spencer Cox and your local elected officials. Use the pre-loaded text, replace it with your own message, or paste in the Utah-specific message below.

STEP 3: Consider making a donation to UH.

STEP 4: Share this action alert on social media, then send it directly to five people in your network and ask them to take action as well.

STEP 5: Write an op-ed letter to the editor for your local newspaper explaining why the humanities are important and the impact these federal dollars have in your community.

THE COMMUNITY SPEAKS: More Thoughts on Health Care

More thoughts from Mary DaSilva, who spoke so eloquently at the April 5th Hands Off Rally:

I must confess it felt very good to shout my frustration to the heavens. I wish I could say so much more on this subject. I just wanted to weep this morning when I read that the Idaho House has passed a law forbidding the use of public funds to vaccinate "illegal aliens" or provide prenatal care to "illegal" pregnant women. We are in for many years of preventable epidemics. The last thing you want is to purposely create reservoirs of non-immune people in your community for the viruses to become endemic. Mexico did not have the Rubella vaccine until 1998, meaning that most Mexican people caught Rubella. It is a mild disease, except in the first 16 weeks of pregnancy, when it causes severe birth defects. That is why the Texas School for the Blind was full of congenital rubella cases. It marked me forever to sit in a room full of children and teenagers with microcephaly, blind and deaf, knowing that it was only political will and money which prevented these kids from their fate.

For more information, see Mary's editorial in the Utah News Dispatch (4/18/2025)