Palestinian-Lebenese author Saree Makdisi was invited by the Jewish, Islamic, and Middle Eastern Studies (JIMES) department on Nov. 4 to give his presentation “Tolerance is Wasteland: Palestine and the Culture of Denial” on his work about Western denial of Palestinian oppression and genocide.

Three members of WashU’s Student Union (SU) Senate resigned from their roles — two on Sept. 17 and one on Sept. 25. Multiple senators told Student Life that they are considering leaving or not running again due to an environment that is divisive and stressful. 

Chancellor Andrew Martin met with Valerie Jarrett, CEO of the Obama Foundation, and Washington Post reporter Michael Isikoff to discuss free speech and democracy on college campuses on Sept. 9. 

After careful evaluation of Student Life’s coverage and staff diversity audits, we realized that the paper doesn’t represent the diversity of ethnicities, religions, and perspectives that make up the WashU community.

Washington University’s Muslim Student Association (MSA) hosted its annual Eid dinner in Hillman Hall’s Clark-Fox Forum to celebrate the year’s end, which took place from 6-9 p.m. on April 27. The event took place in view of the pro-Palestine protest and encampment and the ensuing arrests on the East End of campus. 

Ilana Feldman, a professor of Anthropology, History, and International Affairs at George Washington University, presented a talk on humanitarian danger and the struggles of Palestinian life in Gaza on March 27. 

Students of various faiths filled Tisch Commons for the Interfaith Iftar, a dinner where Muslim students broke their fasts as student speakers discussed their faiths and fasting customs. Iftar, generally, is a fast-breaking meal during Ramadan.

In a meeting attended by nearly 200 total students, Student Union (SU) Senate passed a resolution 15 to 5 with one abstention, via an unprecedented anonymous vote, calling on Washington University to divest from and cut professional ties with Boeing, March 19. 

Salwa Abu Ghali, a Palestinian refugee, described her experience living in the West Bank’s Jenin refugee camp during an event hosted by Jewish, Islamic, and Middle Eastern studies (JIMES) professor, David Warren, on March 5.

Following the removal of authoritarian leader Omar al-Bashir in 2019, the recent conflict between warring militaristic factions the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) over control of Sudan has caused the deaths of over 12 thousand individuals. Additionally, the conflict has displaced more than 9 million others and remains a humanitarian crisis that threatens one of the world’s most politically complex regions.