During his annual State of the University address, Chancellor Andrew D. Martin expressed the need for WashU to stick to its core values through political tumult.

Both St. Louisans and WashU community members are calling for WashU to compensate surrounding communities through Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOTs), due in part to WashU’s growing real estate portfolio in the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County. However, WashU does not anticipate changing its stance on PILOTs, stating the University contributes to the surrounding municipalities in other ways. 

WashU students and recent graduates in the Government, Policy, & Social Impact career community are drastically shifting their career plans after numerous executive orders from Trump’s administration resulted  in mass firings and a hiring freeze.

The Gephardt Institute hosted a screening of Borderland: The Line Within, a documentary about the struggles of immigrants in the U.S. on Feb. 20.

Student Union (SU) unanimously passed its $4.6 million general budget for the upcoming fiscal year on Feb. 18. This year’s Treasury budget was passed in 49 minutes, making it the second-fastest budget passed in SU history. The budget will create a new fund to pay for cleaning costs for student organizations, increase the budget for Night at the Pageant to $100,000, and decrease funding for student council.

Five WashU Law professors participated in a panel that explored the implications and potential constitutional violations of the Trump administration’s recent plethora of executive orders. The event, hosted by the law school, was titled “Beyond the Headlines: Executive Orders and Presidential Power” and was held on Feb. 19.

As a small group of graduate students listened in the audience, MD/PhD student Jamie Moffa explained how to convey the importance of their research to local and state legislators.

The students were gathered — both in McDonnell Hall and at WashU’s medical campus — as part of a nationwide day of action through the organization Labor for Higher Education to phone bank in opposition to recent proposed funding cuts to the National Institute of Health (NIH). 

When Reverend Jonathan Weaver arrived at WashU as a first-year in 1968, there were 27 Black students in his class. Just a few months after he moved in, Weaver helped organize a sit-in to protest an incident of police violence toward a Black student that led to meaningful changes on campus that are still in effect today, including the creation of the African and African American Studies Department. 

At 6 p.m. this evening, WashU alumni Rev. Jonathan Weaver will be addressing an audience at Graham Chapel to talk about his role in organizing a sit-in at Brookings Quadrangle in 1968 where students protested against racism. 

WashU admitted six transfer students this semester in the second year of the mid-year transfer admissions program for the College of Arts & Sciences that began in 2024. Twelve first-years and two sophomores were admitted during the pilot year of the program.