“Mac: Get Cruelty Out of Psych Classes,” Urge Mobile Billboards Circling Macalester’s Commencement on May 16

ST. PAUL, Minn. — “Mac: Get Cruelty Out of Psych Classes,” is one of three messages that students, parents, and faculty attending Macalester College’s commencement activities on May 15 and 16 will see on mobile billboards circling the campus. The billboards—which encourage people to visit PCRM.org/EndPsychAnimalLab to send a message to the college—are part of an ongoing campaign to stop Macalester from using and killing animals in psychology classes.

Two additional messages that will appear on the mobile billboard read: “Students: Tell Mac You Oppose Animal Experiments” and “They Stopped Using Animals in Psych Classes. Why Haven’t You?” which displays the names of other colleges in universities in Minnesota that have replaced animal use in psychology classes.

“Students, parents, and alumni should make it clear to Macalester’s leadership that they won’t support the college’s cruelty to animals,” says Neal Barnard, MD, a Macalester alumnus and president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. “It’s time for Macalester to finally join the vast majority of colleges and universities that long ago ended animal use in psychology classes.”

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

The college has had a consistent pattern of misleading statements about its animal use. In The Mac Weekly, on Sept. 25, 2025, 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.” But an Oct. 31, 2025, Minnesota Star Tribune article reported that the college confirmed that eventually all rats are killed by carbon dioxide.

The college has made 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.

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.”