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. 

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. 

If you were anything like me when you got to university, you didn’t have a ton of stuff to decorate your room with. I had a few things: tarot posters gifted by my friend’s younger sister, a local newspaper that I liked the front page spread of, and a museum catalogue.

WashU’s Danforth Campus and surrounding areas were in the direct path of a tornado which touched down early in the afternoon of May 16. Radar from The Weather Channel confirmed the tornado struck the suburb of Clayton, where the Danforth Campus is located. 

WashU’s Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing has ended its postgraduate fellowship, a one-year program where students in the MFA program had the opportunity to teach classes as a postgraduate fellow for a year following the completion of their two-year degree.

A WashU student engaged in a performance art piece was asked to leave the East End of campus, with administration citing the Facilities Access Policy as the reason for requesting him to do so, on April 7.

Many colleges today have students who are social media influencers that are creating and participating in online culture, trends, and consumer behavior. WashU is no exception.

For the past few years, WashU students have advocated for the repatriation of the Robert J. Terry Anatomical Skeletal Collection and the renouncement of its primary collector, former head of WashU’s Anatomy Department and self-proclaimed eugenicist, Robert J. Terry. 

Washington University students and parents were notified of a tuition increase for the 2025-2026 academic year via an email on March 27. Tuition will be $68,240 next year, reflecting a $3,740 increase — 5.8% higher than this year’s rate — making it the largest tuition increase in the past 11 years.

WashU research projects have been affected by Trump administration policies that have restricted funding and access to critical information. To better understand these impacts, Student Life editors Aliza Lubitz and Zach Trabitz spoke with individuals involved in two university programs: the St. Louis Integrated Database of Enslavement (SLIDE) team and the Enhancing Neuroscience Diversity through Undergraduate Research Education (ENDURE) program.