Did Macalester’s Psychology Department Pressure You Into Participating in an Animal Laboratory Exercise?

Did you sign up for the introductory psychology course at Macalester College only to find out that it includes animal laboratories? Surveys show that many students do not wish to participate in animal laboratories, especially if the animals are killed later on. While Macalester’s psychology department points out that participation is optional, its recent statements have been pushing students to participate. 

If you felt compelled to take the class, despite not wishing to, please email report [at] pcrm.org (report[at]pcrm[dot]org).

More Than 50 Years of Deadly Animal Labs

In June 2025, Neal Barnard, MD, a Macalester College alumnus, filed a lawsuit that accuses the college of having killed thousands of animals to teach elementary concepts in psychology, despite the availability of nonanimal alternatives and despite the college’s posted statements that it applies the highest ethical standards. Macalester is among the few (and perhaps the only) colleges in the Minnesota to continue to use animals in introductory psychology classes. It has done so for more than 50 years, while superior nonanimal lesson plans have been adopted by others.

The college has falsely asserted that the laboratory exercises were “irreplaceable,” despite the fact that Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Carleton, St. Olaf, St. John’s, Hamline, the University of Minnesota, and most other colleges and universities replaced such laboratories years ago.

Dr. Barnard presented the court with evidence of the college’s consistent pattern of misleading statements about its animal use. In The Mac Weekly, on Sept. 25, the psychology department was cited as saying the introductory psychology class “did not involve killing animals through experimentation” and “no rodents are killed during Introduction to Psychology courses,” apparently suggesting the animals would survive.

But an Oct. 31, 2025, Minnesota Star Tribune article reported that the college confirmed that eventually all rats are killed by carbon dioxide.

Fear of Getting ‘In Trouble’

Dr. Barnard also raised concerns about the college’s coercive and intimidating statements that compassionate students who opt out of the animal laboratory miss an irreplaceable experience that informs their future studies, “something we consider essential preparation for future scientists and informed citizens alike.” The statement would have the likely effect of pressuring students into participating in activities many find ethically unacceptable.

Dr. Barnard pointed out that, in a broadcast by the Association of Minnesota Public Educational Radio Stations, Aug. 5, 2025, a Macalester psychology student discussed her emotional reactions and those of a friend in response to the animal laboratory. As a result of the college’s behavior, she “asked to remain anonymous and feared she could get in trouble with the department.”

A recent survey showed that 83% of college students nationwide object to the use of animals when alternatives are available and the animals will be killed. Many of the surveyed students indicated they would participate in the animal laboratories anyway “to avoid problems” (20%), and others (24%) indicated they would be nervous asking for an alternative.

For more details on Macalester’s animal laboratories, read Dr. Barnard’s commentary published in The Mac Weekly on Oct. 30, 2025.

If you feel that you were coerced into participating in Macalester’s deadly animal labs, please email report [at] pcrm.org (report[at]pcrm[dot]org).