The cost of Workday has been criticized by some members of the University community. On Oct. 23, undergraduate and graduate students and faculty protested outside a meeting between Gray and the WashU Faculty Senate Council. Some of the protesters held signs reading “support workers, not Workday.” 

The University-wide average GPA rose from 3.37 in fall 2004 to 3.57 in fall 2019. It increased rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic — by spring 2021, it reached 3.73. 

Dean of WashU’s College of Arts & Sciences, Feng Sheng Hu, told faculty at a meeting on Tuesday that Chancellor Andrew D. Martin does not plan to sign the Trump administration’s compact for higher education in its current form, according to five faculty in attendance.

Chancellor Andrew D. Martin met virtually with White House representatives on Friday afternoon to discuss President Trump’s higher education compact, which asks universities to commit to a range of policy changes in exchange for preferential access to federal funding, per Vice Chancellor of Marketing and Communications Julie Flory. 

In late August, a group of Kaldi’s employees, along with professional labor organizers, staged a protest inside the Skinker location of Kaldi’s Coffee, a popular study spot for WashU students.

When Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor walked onstage Wednesday evening at the Athletic Center, she received a standing ovation from 3,000 undergraduate students, law students, professors, St. Louis residents, and local elementary school classes. The justice, dressed in a bright red blouse and matching Nike Jordans, was there to talk about her new children’s book with Chancellor Martin, but the conversation soon turned to her work on the Supreme Court. 

During an April panel on growing public distrust in higher education hosted by the Association of American Universities (AAU), Christopher Eisgruber — Princeton president and AAU chair — criticized Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier and WashU Chancellor Andrew Martin for their handling of President Trump’s attacks on universities, according to an article published by The Atlantic on Aug. 11. 

Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe spoke about the importance of providing effective rural healthcare and mental healthcare in Missouri, as well as the role that St. Louis plays in healthcare innovation, at the 9th annual Global Health Innovation Summit in WashU’s Knight Hall.

Welcome to WashU! Here’s a chronological recap of some of the major events and happenings from last school year, both around campus and in the greater community. This includes how national politics have affected the WashU community, so you can get up to speed on all of the campus goings-on. 

WashU announced plans to rename the Robert J. Terry endowed Professorship in the School of Medicine and the annual Robert J. Terry Lecture Series in the Neuroscience Department, following a recommendation made by the University’s Naming Review Board (NRB). The removal request was submitted to the NRB in fall of 2024 by then-senior Paul Scott, with support from 11 student co-signers and a letter from the WashU Native American Students Association.