AnaElda Ramos | Managing Illustration Editor

Last week, Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe gave a speech titled “St. Louis and Missouri Welcome Cutting-Edge Global Innovation” as the keynote speaker at the Global Health Innovation Summit on WashU’s campus. In response to a question regarding cuts to healthcare research by the Trump administration — which have significantly impacted WashU — the governor said that he supports “the government being more efficient” and believes there are “really good things to come.”

It’s undeniable that this semester, WashU looks and feels noticeably different as a result of federal budget cuts. The construction of Riney Hall has been indefinitely paused. According to students, the toilet paper, TVs, and printers in some residential buildings are gone. Below the surface, the changes are more drastic. Our professors and friends involved in research are working with fewer resources. Departments within the University wiped some mentions of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives from their websites, leaving many students from marginalized backgrounds uncertain of where to go for University-sanctioned support.

While the effects of the Trump budget cuts have been the talk of campus this year, Missouri politicians are working hard behind the scenes to ignore the will of their voters and bring our state further to the right. Despite this, many students might not even be aware of what’s going on in Jefferson City.

On Aug. 29, 2025, the state began a special legislative session — ordered by Kehoe — to gerrymander Democratic U.S. Congressman Emanuel Cleaver out of his Kansas City-based district. In July, Kehoe signed a bill into law to directly overturn Proposition A, the ballot initiative intended to expand sick leave that 58% of Missouri voters supported last November. And this spring, lawmakers in Jefferson City introduced a ballot initiative, scheduled for 2026, to ban abortion, a slap in the face to the majority of Missourians who voted to legalize abortion in 2024 through Amendment 3. This move was the most recent attempt in a series of actions by the government to overturn the amendment. Governor Kehoe is aligned with Trump’s far-right movement, and these notable policy shifts are just the beginning of the harmful policies Kehoe has promised to carry out during his term.

Most WashU students are not originally from Missouri. 87% of our student body comes from out of state. You’re much more likely to see Illinois, New York, or even California license plates in the South 40 garage. But for the four years that we spend at WashU, we too are Missourians. Many students voted for the very ballot initiatives that Governor Kehoe and the state legislature want to take away. Students haven’t hesitated to speak out against the Trump administration, so why is our campus silent about what is happening in the halls of the Missouri government?

As students, we stand at the crossroads of academia and government. State and federal leaders like Governor Kehoe come to campus on a relatively frequent basis. These leaders understand and respect WashU’s status within the state, and some even have close ties to WashU.

Take Catherine Hanaway, whom Kehoe recently appointed as Missouri’s Attorney General (AG). Before she was appointed as AG, Hanaway’s last public-facing role was as a member of the ad hoc committee that investigated (and ultimately upheld) WashU’s response to the pro-Palestine protests in spring 2024. As AG, Hanaway will be responsible for defending these state laws when they are inevitably challenged in federal court. While Hanaway’s agreement with WashU’s encampment response suggests that she might not be receptive to student protest, she certainly respects our university as an institution.

When Kehoe, Hanaway, or any Missouri political leader comes to campus next, we, Missouri’s future, have to show them that we vehemently disagree with the democratic backsliding that these lawmakers are either spearheading or complicit in.

We recognize that this is a difficult time to expect WashU’s administration to outwardly take a stand against this Trump-backed power grab, considering both the effects it could have on WashU’s federal relationships and Chancellor Martin’s stance against academic politicization. This makes it even more important that students make their voices heard as members of the WashU community who are directly affected by these policies.

Students (and faculty) should consider joining campus political and advocacy organizations that make it clear they will fight Kehoe’s regressive policies. They should also consider the Bear Advocates program, which allows students to lobby on behalf of the University in Jefferson City and Washington, D.C. To fight the attacks on Amendment 3, they can join our chapter of Planned Parenthood Generation Action. We encourage students to also make their voices heard alongside Missourians and St. Louisans outside of WashU through organizations like Abortion Action Missouri and Missouri Jobs for Justice — the WashU College Democrats are partnering with Jobs for Justice on an anti-gerrymandering lobbying trip to Jefferson City next week.

Above everything else, you should pay attention to what Missouri’s government is doing. This is a critical crossroads for our state. As students, we should continue to critique the federal government’s attack on academic freedom and research. But as future leaders, and above all, as Missourians, we must stand against this overreach.

Staff editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of our editorial board members. The editorial board operates independently of our newsroom and includes members of the senior staff.

Matt Eisner, Managing Sports Editor

Sylvie Richards, Managing Forum Editor

Dion Hines, Senior Forum Editor

David Ciorba, Senior Forum Editor

Amelia Raden, Senior Forum Editor

Kate Theerman Rodriguez, Senior Forum Editor

Quinn Moore, Managing Newsletter Editor

Sydney Tran, Editor-in-Chief

Will Rosenblum, Managing Scene Editor

Sophie Schwartz, Junior Scene Editors

Bri Nitsberg, Managing Photo Editor

Elizabeth Grieve, Senior Scene Editor

Laurel Wang, Senior Scene Editor

Sara Gelrud, Junior Scene Editor

Sophie Schwartz, Junior Scene Editor

Astrid Burns, Special Issues Editor 

Eliza Stulman, Junior Sports Editor

AnaElda Ramos, Managing Illustration Editor

Lyn Willkins, Junior Forum Editor

Editor’s Note: News editors are not members of the editorial board and do not attend editorial board meetings except to occasionally provide informational context on a given topic. News Editor Coby Rinke contributed reporting on Governor Kehoe and the Global Health Innovation Summit, but was not involved in the writing or editing of this editorial.