WashU Jewish Students for Palestine (JSP) emailed administration asking for the limitation of displays of “Israeli nationalism” on the one-year anniversary of Oct.7. In the email, which was sent last week and posted on Instagram tonight, JSP said that the displays will negatively impact students’ ability to mourn. 

Professor Sahar Aziz delivered a lecture and answered audience questions about the racialization of the Israel-Hamas war, particularly by political parties in the United States. The event, titled “The Palestine Taboo: Race, Islamophobia, and Free Speech,” was the first John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics event of the year. Sept. 23. 

Chancellor Andrew Martin met with Valerie Jarrett, CEO of the Obama Foundation, and Washington Post reporter Michael Isikoff to discuss free speech and democracy on college campuses on Sept. 9. 

Chancellor Andrew Martin moderated a conversation on freedom of speech between Hebrew University in Jerusalem professor Barak Medina and Washington University professor Lee Epstein in Umrath Lounge, Sept. 3. Attendees filled the 130 seats, with roughly another 60 standing in order to watch. 

In the last year, university administrators nationwide have come under fire for their handling of campus protests. On Wednesday, Sep. 4, WashU Chancellor Andrew Martin shared his perspective. When asked a similar question that landed some of his colleagues in hot water — like university presidents at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University — Martin had a different answer.

In an environment where discussions about justice are as pressing and urgent as ever, activists fighting for their causes need to invite as many people into the conversation as possible. Doing so should involve convincing people why they should care, not admonishing them for their complacency.

Three Washington University students have been suspended by administration after participating in a pro-Palestine protest that disrupted a Bear Day event for admitted students on April 13. 

Around 30 students stood outside the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards to express support for senior RJ Lucas, who was suspended from Washington University following the pro-Palestine Bear Day protest. The students demonstrated while Lucas was meeting with the student conduct board around 2:45 p.m., April 17. 

Chancellor Andrew Martin and Lee Epstein, Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Southern California, jointly taught a two-day lecture class that focused on the history and significance of freedom of expression on college campuses, March 29 and 30.  The course was first taught in 2020 and is now an 100-seat 1-credit class with […]

A student’s pro-Palestine art piece was placed on the outside of Steinberg Hall as part of a critique for their sculpture art class on Dec. 6.