After the W&E center closed, McKelvey administrators sent no explanation via email, announcement, or statement to students. Instead, the center’s digital presence quietly vanished. The webpage disappeared from WashU’s site, the Instagram account was deleted, and even a podcast produced by McKelvey featuring Dearmont and her work with the W&E Center was taken down. I only learned about the closure through my club leadership role, not through the administration. To this day, the administration has not publicly addressed the decision to close the center or the impact its closure has on the female students it was designed to help.

On Sept. 15, 2025, America First Legal (AFL) filed a complaint against WashU School of Medicine for its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) practices, asking the Department of Justice to issue an investigation into the medical school’s alleged “illegal DEI practices.”

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.

Former St. Louis mayor Tishaura Jones will join WashU through a newly created fellowship offered by WashU’s Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity (CRE2), where among other things she will “engage both campus and community audiences in dialogue around critical issues of race & ethnicity,” according to the center’s goals.

WashU Chancellor Andrew Martin sat down with Student Life on Tuesday, Sept. 9 to discuss how the University is advocating for WashU in Washington, D.C.; navigating financial obstacles; supporting international students; protecting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives; and approaching long-term construction plans.

In a Q&A with Student Life this Tuesday, WashU Chancellor Andrew Martin revealed that the University is planning to build a new dormitory on campus. Martin also reaffirmed the school’s commitment to financial responsibility and diversity of perspectives and backgrounds during a time of political uncertainty for universities.

Over the past few months, WashU has removed content related to its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs from various University websites. Although some DEI-related content remains, websites of several University offices, departments, and schools have edited descriptions of DEI initiatives, deleted links to pages focused on DEI efforts, and erased content promoting WashU’s efforts towards equity.

On May 7, WashU announced the formation of a University-wide committee tasked with reviewing and recommending changes to the school’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and activities. The announcement emphasized that the creation of the committee is the latest step in the University’s ongoing evaluation of its DEI efforts. 

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) announced that it was investigating 45 universities across the United States, including WashU, for allegedly “engaging in race-exclusionary practices” in their education programs and activities Mar. 14.

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.