University of Minnesota STEM programs paused work Wednesday and took to social media to join thousands of others in protesting racism in STEM.

STEM researchers and scientists across the U.S. used hashtags #ShutDownStem and #ShutDownAcademia, and observed a research halt on June 10. Many on Twitter said they spent the day educating themselves on racial inequalities in STEM fields using resources from shutdownstem.com, which offers educational resources about race.

The University’s College of Biological Sciences and College of Science and Engineering among others encouraged faculty, staff and students to participate in the hashtag on Twitter.

Several University leaders tweeted about the movement on Wednesday. 

Of the nearly 300,000 permanent resident graduate students in science in 2018, 8.4% were Black, according to a National Center for Science and Engineering survey.