On May 18, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD) confirmed the identity of a body recovered from the Mississippi River last week as missing student Antonio Arellano-Banda. He was 20.

After his speech at Friday’s commencement ceremony, Andy Cohen sat down for an interview with Student Life reporter Zach Trabitz. The following Q&A has been edited for length and clarity. 

The Washington University Graduate Workers Union (WUGWU) organized a demonstration last Friday, May 1, to protest University funding cuts to College of Arts & Sciences graduate programs and demand increased protections for international students as part of nationwide May Day rallies and strikes calling for labor rights, among other causes.

Antonio Arellano-Banda was reported missing on May 8, according to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s Missing Persons Unit. According to the post, the last known contact between Arellano-Banda and his friends was on May 7.

WashU Overseas Programs has implemented priority applications for the fall and spring 2027 spring study abroad application cycle due to capacity constraints of popular study abroad destinations, including Prague, The Czech Republic; Copenhagen, Denmark; Amsterdam, Netherlands; and Stockholm, Sweden. 

The South 40 welcomed Bear Bodega, a new convenience store for students, on April 6. The store utilizes Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology, allowing shoppers an easy, transactionless experience.

The decision to close the current location of the Burning Kumquat garden was made this spring, after members of the club found out in January that their space overlapped with the South 40 residential hall construction project. Following discussions with the facilities and Student Life departments, it was decided that there is currently no location for the garden to relocate to. 

University budget cuts have put Engineers in the Community, an undergraduate engineering class with the mission to connect engineering education to the lived realities of St. Louis communities, at risk of elimination. This is partly due to the closure of the Engineering Communication Center, which has long supported the class and resulted in. Students and faculty have begun raising concerns directly with administrators.

After the launch of the provost office’s +AI academic initiative to integrate AI into the classroom, divisions continue to ensue concerning AI and opinions on the University’s largely positive position on the technology.

In February this year, Student Union (SU) approved its fiscal year 2027 (FY27) general budget of approximately $4.8 million, an increase from about $4.65 million allocated for FY26. For the upcoming fiscal year, more funding will be directed towards student groups compared to FY26.