Justice Sonia Sotomayor spoke to a packed crowd of over 3,000 community members, students, teachers, and alumni in the Athletic Complex last Wednesday, Sept. 9. She entered and left to a standing ovation and frequently had to pause for thunderous applause. The first words from moderator Chancellor Martin were that the event had “sold out in 52 minutes.”

After a flyer from Patriot Front — a white nationalist group — calling to “deport invaders” and “keep America American” was recently found in Graham Chapel, several of WashU’s affinity groups organized an emergency town hall to address white supremacy in Tisch Commons at 6 p.m. on April 8. 

Stand-up comedian and writer Sammy Obeid performed a comedy show following his Ceasefire Tour at WashU to a full audience at Graham Chapel on Feb. 12.

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.