WashU’s new Public Health and Society (PH&S) major collaborates with the new graduate School of Public Health (SPH) to offer unique course structures and electives, as well as the opportunity for students to actively shape the evolving curriculum in which they participate.

The Student Life Editorial staff believes that these six departments — and their academic independence — are imperative to the WashU community, especially given the Trump administration’s attacks on academic freedom, marginalized communities, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). As such, we are skeptical of the University’s stated intentions due to their lack of transparency in this process so far.

All departments in the College of Arts & Sciences will select two days to cancel classes during the spring 2021 semester, as part of Washington University’s efforts to support student mental health and compensate for the absence of a spring break, Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences Jen Smith announced in an email to students, Dec. 7.

After students objected to the replacement of Spring Break with two nonconsecutive “wellness days,” Washington University announced a revised spring calendar that included two consecutive wellness days and one additional wellness day, Dec. 3.

The College of Arts & Sciences released an open letter reaffirming its commitment to policies of diversity and inclusion Thursday, placing special emphasis on applying these policies to the physics department—which currently has received criticism no tenured or tenured-track female professors.

Though less than 5 percent of eligible students voted, Arts & Sciences students approved the ArtSci Council’s new constitution on Tuesday, giving the group the expectations and structure necessary to move forward.

Monday will be the first day in nearly 25 years that students will have the opportunity to enroll in classes with the Department of Sociology.
In 1991 the Department of Sociology was disbanded at Washington University due to reasons disclosed by Claire Navarro, managing editor of A&S Magazine, including competing departmental priorities and even a physical altercation between a sociology chair and a graduate student.

As one of its selling points on tours to prospective students, Wash. U. espouses how easy it is for undergraduates to take classes across schools and even earn dual degrees if so inclined. What Wash. U. neglects to tell those students is that, if they are in the College of Arts & Sciences, earning that second degree or major will consume any time you may have had for electives.

When sophomore and cadet Connor Eulberg approached Dean Jen Smith last fall to ask why the College of Arts & Sciences didn’t offer credit for ROTC courses, he didn’t anticipate it would take 20 months to receive an answer.

As Washington University admissions officers sift through early decision applicants for the class of 2017 this month, they will have one less thing on their minds. “We do it in three-and-a-half,” the age-old motto of the January Program, will soon become obsolete as the last group of JProg students arrives on campus in January.