RECYCLING:
A look into STL’s move to end alleyway recycling. (News, pg 2)
THE WASHU JAZZ BAND: First-years shine in WashU Jazz Band. (Scene, pg 3)
WashU announces over 300 layoffs and cuts to almost 200 vacancies
WashU has eliminated 316 staff positions and “closed 198 open and vacant positions” from the Danforth and Medical campuses and the Central Fiscal Unit (CFU), Chancellor Andrew Martin announced in a University-wide email addressed to faculty and staff on Tuesday afternoon.
Martin wrote that the layoffs are estimated to account for $52 million in annual savings. He said that some of the terminations “stem from external pressures that … include the changing needs of our students, emerging technologies, and innovations in teaching and learning.”
He also attributed some of the layoffs to longer-term internal inefficiencies as well as to the proposed cuts to federal research funding.
“Other [terminations] come from internal decisions and structures that have, over time, created ineffective processes and redundancies in the way we operate,” he wrote.
This is not the first time that Martin has alluded to cuts within the University’s central administrative unit. In his Fall Q&A with Student Life on Sept. 9, he said that in addition to cutting spending across WashU’s eight schools, the CFU was working to reduce its own internal expenses.
The CFU is the administrative body of the University separate from WashU’s eight schools and includes sectors like the chancellor’s office, the fundraising arm of the University, and the University’s library system, among others.
Martin wrote in the message Tuesday that it was necessary for the University to make cuts to be well-positioned financially to fulfill the school’s central mission.
“Our mission – in support of teaching, research, and patient care – drives everything we do. Our ability to fulfill it requires us to be in a strong financial position. If we want to be great, and not just good, we must focus our
resources where they will have the most impact and ensure that we’re positioned for success in the long-term,” Martin wrote.
One branch of the University’s CFU, University Advancement (UA) — which coordinates fundraising from donors and alumni — laid off 38 people on the morning of Monday, Sept. 29, according to an internal email. Per the UA’s website, 273 people had been employed on its team, meaning nearly 14% of the division’s staff was laid off.
Executive Vice Chancellor for UA Pamela Henson wrote in an email to her whole staff that the layoffs were related to WashU being subject to both “internal decisions and external pressures.”
“WashU’s Central Fiscal Unit was asked to resize areas and programs to reflect our current operating environment,” Henson wrote in the email.
According to a list of the positions and ages of the terminated jobs obtained by Student Life, administrative roles such as the “Executive Director of Engagement” and an “Associate Vice Chancellor” were among those terminated. The ages of those impacted ranged from 26 years old to 76 years old.
One employee who was terminated from UA spoke with
Student Life about the firings on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation.
The UA employee said that they went into work on Monday believing it to be a normal day, but they received an email around 9:30 a.m. saying that they needed to free up their schedule for the next two hours of the day.
They said they were told by a UA supervisor and an HR official that their position was being terminated due to “financial difficulties” and to “not take it too personally,” and were then escorted from the UA building. They collected a personal bag from their office but were not allowed to gather any other personal items.
The employee said they were told that they will be provided with severance pay during the month of October and their belongings from their office will be shipped to them.
They said that their family relied upon WashU’s health insurance and they were “banking on” sending their children to college with assistance from WashU through its free tuition policy for staff and faculty.
“What makes me the most upset is that I am going to struggle to provide for my kids both with healthcare and college,” the former employee said. “This will
set us back generations, I mean we are going to go into severe debt because of this [since] we had no warning.”
The employee alleged that no one from UA’s “fundraising vertical” team was cut in spite of the team not hitting their fundraising metrics, saying the “behind-thescenes” roles which supported the fundraisers’ work were among those cut.
“I would just say people are shocked at who was let go and who could stay,” they said.
This employee was most struck by the suddenness of the terminations after having worked at the University for a number of years.
“This isn’t the WashU that I knew,” they said. “They treated us like trash [during the termination process].”
The employee alleged that of the 38 who were fired, 37 of them were women. When asked about this claim and other details of the UA terminations, Vice Chancellor of Marketing and Communications Julie Flory referred Student Life to Chancellor Martin’s Tuesday email about the layoffs
SEE LAYOFFS, PAGE 2
As the final whistle blew in the WashU men’s soccer team’s 4-0 victory over Greenville University on Sept. 30, the Bears did something that no WashU men’s soccer team has done in 14 years: they’ve won seven games in a row. For this iteration of WashU men’s soccer, this success is novel. With the wins this week, WashU has tied its win total from all of last season. None of the Bears’ five seniors have been on a WashU team that has made the NCAA tournament. Late breaks and bounces are going WashU’s way, for once, after years of conceding late goals to their opponents. Most of all, though, the Bears are simply outplaying their opponents. WashU is ranked 11 in the United Soccer Coaches poll, ending a staggering three-year rankings drought for one of Division
III soccer’s most storied programs. Finally, it looks like the pieces are falling into place for the Bears.
“It’s a good feeling,” junior defender Quentin Gomez said. “We definitely have got to keep pushing, but things are looking good.”
WashU started the weekend strong, but more nerve-wracking than expected, with a 2-1 win against Webster University on Sept. 27. WashU, who have never lost to their crosstown rivals, got off to a hot start, scoring in the 36th minute. Junior Nik Avillo sent a pass through to fellow junior striker Ethan Wirtschafter, who kicked the ball up to himself and scored. The Gorloks tied the game shortly after halftime, evening the game for most of the second half. In the 87th minute, senior Zach Susee lobbed a ball into the box. His pass found first-year Daniel Kochen, who unknotted the tie with his second goal of the season. The Gorloks
First-year Wole Adeoye drives to the net. Adeoye is part of a 14man first-year class driving the Bears’ success this season.
could not find an equalizer in the remaining three minutes, sending the Bears back to WashU with a victory.
“He’s arriving at the areas at all the right times,” head coach Andrew Bordelon said of Kochen. “He’s a player that’s full of confidence and
BEAR BAND: The band hits all the right notes during season’s first performance. (Sports, pg 7)
arrives in the box in really dangerous times.”
SEE MSOC, PAGE 8
This year, the University has moved to cut funding for the Ampersand Program’s international travel, which some professors and students consider an integral part of the Ampersand experience. While some programs will be able to continue through departmental funding or external grants, half of these classes have had to cancel their trips abroad.
The Ampersand Program is a series of multi-semester seminar classes and experiential learning opportunities open to first-years. These classes delve into topics ranging in fields from science to humanities through coursework, research, field trips, and, for some of these courses, trips abroad.
The travel component of the Ampersand Program, according to the Vice Dean of Undergraduate Affairs Erin McGlothlin, is only one aspect of the larger programming involved in the class.
“Ampersand Programs with a travel component are only one variant of the Ampersand offerings, which also include programs with research and community engagement,” McGlothlin wrote in an email to Student Life. “This change to the programs will not affect the high-impact learning faculty have planned for the fall and spring semesters.”
A hallmark of the Ampersand Programs are their accompanying experiential learning elements.
For 10 of these programs, the experiential aspect comes through research and out-of-the classroom field work or service, but for the other five, it is travel. While the travel component is only one aspect of some Ampersand Programs, professors and students alike view travel as integral to the Ampersand experience.
“Although there is experiential learning in the classes, the trip is the biggest opportunity for it, so much of that component in the Ampersand Program gets lost when there isn’t one,” Kathryn Wilson, the director of the Ampersand Program Democracy and Myth in Ancient Greece, said. “The trip brings everything together from both semesters.”
According to Chris Erdman, the co-runner of Rome: The Eternal City?, being able to see the specific sites and attach information to them is an especially important factor that travel allows for.
“I work on politics in the Republic, and it’s one thing to read about politics in the Republic — it’s often very sort of dry and abstract — but I find that it’s quite different when you can be in the forum and you can point to things and say ‘people assembled here [and] voting took place here’.” He continued, “But I have to say, it’s hard … to think of a way to replace just actually being in Rome.”
In a Tuesday email, Chancellor Martin announced widespread layoffs, including in its University Advancement division located on WashU’s West Campus.
DYLAN WHITING | CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
EMILY FABER CONTRIBUTING WRITER University
MATT EISNER | MANAGING SPORTS EDITOR
St. Louis announces new recycling practices, ends alleyway pickups
The City of St. Louis ended alleyway recycling over the summer and will implement a new program to be rolled out in the following year.
While curbside recycling will continue as normal, city officials at a regular meeting of the Public Infrastructure and Utilities Committee suggested the City of St. Louis better utilize taxpayer dollars and cut down on recycling contamination.
Rasmus Jorgensen, the Deputy Director of Communications for Mayor Cara Spencer’s office, spoke to the reasoning behind the changes.
“The reason for [the changes] is that about 50% of our recycled materials that we would take to the facility would get turned away, but we still have to pay the premium price, which is five times more than we paid for trash, but it would have to go to the landfill anyway,” Jorgensen said.
Alleyway bin contamination rates are roughly twice as high as distant, larger drop-off spots. This year, the City of St. Louis reported a 52% contamination rate in alleyway bins, according to a presentation given by Chief Operating Officer Ben Jonsson at the recent meeting.
Froggi VanRiper, a lecturer in WashU’s Environmental Studies Program, said that these contamination rates have risen since the city moved towards commingled recycling in the early 2000s.
“Year after year after year, [processing plants have] accepted higher and higher contamination rates,” VanRiper said. “And then the businesses that run recycling plants have year after year invested in more and more high tech ways of separating out those contaminants, until the cost of doing so is quite high.”
The first phase in the new changes, which the city has already started implementing, promises to increase drop-off location sites by 50%, with a goal of having drop-off sites within a mile of every resident’s home. Dropoff locations are recycling facilities where city residents can place their recycling for the city to pick up. Alleyway recycling dumpsters will be relabeled as trash and picked up during trash routes.
Drop-off locations are dispersed throughout the city, and can be found on the website for the City of St. Louis.
Jorgensen said that city officials are also creating a recycling-driven task force alongside third-party organizations, such as earthday365. earthday365 is a local nonprofit founded with the mission of making St. Louis more sustainable.
Chey Lovellette, Director of Operations at earthday365, said that this collaboration will offer their professional services to the city in order to strengthen sustainability.
“As a nonprofit, we’re very good at finding grants and sourcing out funding, and so we’d be helping the city look for those options as well as trying to get more public engagement,” Lovellette said.
Recycling contamination isn’t just a St. Louis City issue. WashU dining halls recently had record-high levels of contamination as well, according to a waste audit from the 2021-2022 school year. The audit found that samples taken at the Bear’s Den, Danforth University Center, Village, and Parkside Cafe had an average of 45.24% of their recycling contaminated.
Most of WashU’s Danforth Campus is in St. Louis County. However, the Skinker DeBaliviere neighborhood, where many upperclassmen live, is part of St. Louis City and will undergo the recycling process changes.
Senior Robin Pyo, a resident of the Skinker DeBaliviere neighborhood, lives in an apartment that used the former alleyway recycling system. She said that with the changes, she and her roommates chose to stop collecting their recycling.
“We’re throwing
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everything recyclable in our main kitchen garbage,” Pyo said.
Currently, the Skinker DeBaliviere neighborhood has one recycling dropoff site at the intersection between Des Peres Avenue and Westminster Place. Pyo said that switching to drop-off spots would not be effective given the distance to where people live.
“Even if it’s only a mile away, which is not that much, people without a car can’t really access that,” Pyo said.
“You can’t expect people without cars [to] walk a mile, holding all their recycling for the week, and bring it to a drop-off location.”
Jorgensen said the Spencer administration is prioritizing efficiency. As opposed to asking refuse and recycling
collection vehicle drivers to take separate routes to alleyway dumpsters and recycling bins, the city’s trash collection should be streamlined as a benefit of the changes to the recycling program.
“[We want to] deal with one problem really well, instead of trying to deal with two problems poorly,” Jorgensen said.
The Public Infrastructure and Utilities Committee has determined there will be three phases to the recycling overhaul. Currently, however, with the first phase underway, there has not been elaboration on the coming plans.
Jorgensen said that next steps involve connecting with WashU to modernize city refuse vehicles. St. Louis hopes to switch from pickup routes drawn on paper to
LAYOFFS
from page 1
In the conclusion of his message, Martin acknowledged the impacts of the layoffs and said that the Employee Assistance Program and other wellbeing-focused resources were available to those in the community impacted by the cuts.
Martin added that there will be a webinar produced by him and other university leaders shared with students and faculty on Oct. 6 which will go into detail about budgeting during both fiscal years 25 and 26.
Michael O’Bryan — Senior Lecturer in the English Department and Secretary of WashU’s American Association for University Professors (AAUP) — spoke about some of WashU faculty’s concerns about the financial situation.
WashU’s chapter of the AAUP, which was founded in April 2025, works to “channel the energies” of
of 25 positions this past summer.
The petition also specifically requested a session with the University’s Chief Financial Officer David Gray and the Vice Chancellor for Administration Nichol Luoma, which the University complied with.
The session will take place in-person on Oct. 23 from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. and will not be open to the public.
The session is separate from the webinar mentioned in the chancellor’s email to students and faculty.
O’Bryan said that one of the faculty’s concerns was that communications from administrators about fiscal problems referenced issues that predated NIH cuts and increased taxes to endowment funds.
“There are these offhand references to an existing fiscal situation, which precedes Trump’s budget cuts, and until these
WashU-assisted digital technology.
“The system that we have had is quite old-fashioned,” Jorgensen said. “We’d like to come into the 21st century.” Jorgensen added the communications team at the mayor’s office is attempting to make news of these changes easily accessible to residents within both conversations and the city’s website. Jorgensen said that Mayor Spencer’s team will be attuned to the public’s opinion and the experts working for the task force in order to best adapt and continue St. Louis recycling.
“That’s one of the things that Mayor Spencer ran on — to improve city services and … to be honest about what we can deliver,” Jorgensen said.
other main concerns of the faculty included reductions in staff such as the recent firing of two subject librarians, the removal of DEI content from the University’s websites, and the pause on merit raises for the 2026 fiscal year.
“The various staff reductions concern faculty if for no other reason than because oftentimes those are staff members that many of us knew and relied on, particularly with reference to the two librarians, both of whom were fairly beloved figures within their communities and even outside their departments,” he said.
O’Bryan alleged that among some faculty there was a wish for greater transparency from the administration.
“I think there’s a growing sentiment that there’s a very opaque and topdown management style, which leaves many people feeling cut out of the deci-
The City of St. Louis ended alleyway recycling over the summer.
BOBBY KAPLAN | CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Ross Douthat
Philip Zuckerman
SCENE
Fresh faces, full swing: WashU Jazz takes the stage
The WashU Jazz Band is starting this year with a whole lot of new energy — and not just because of the music. When the band takes the stage at Pillsbury Theatre in the 560 Music Center on Oct. 15 for the Jazz Band Concert, listeners will hear a group surging with new talent; many first-year students are already holding their own in a band that usually takes years of experience to step into. This concert also kicks off the “WashU Jazz Series,” a season-long set of performances running through the fall and spring. While the series features guest artists, Cabaret nights, and smaller ensembles, the Jazz Band will be featured in key concerts, giving audiences a chance to follow their growth throughout the year.
Chris Becker, Director of the Jazz Band, explained that this year’s auditions brought an unusually strong first-year class into the mix.
“We had a lot of new players come in, and they were really good,” Becker said. “It’s not easy joining a group with upperclassmen who have been performing together for years. But these freshmen have stepped up in a
way that has made the ensemble exciting to work with.”
That excitement will be on full display at the Jazz Band Concert. The band will perform everything from ballads to big band classics like Moten Swing — a nod to Kansas City’s jazz roots from the 1930s. Becker noted that the program is intentionally broad, designed to fit the personalities of the players and expose them to as many styles as possible. And this is only the beginning. The Jazz Band Concert
kicks off a larger project from the Department of Music titled “Washu Jazz Series.”
The series balances variety — Cabaret nights, jazz combos, and guest artists — with continuity, as the Jazz Band returns throughout the season to showcase its evolving sound. It’s a chance not just to hear jazz, but to watch the WashU Jazz Band grow across the season, even as the series also highlights guest artists, smaller ensembles, and experimental performances.
“Every jazz concert is a
unique experience,” Becker said. “Because of the improvisation, because of the mood of the players, you never see the same show twice. And as the year goes on, you’re going to see these students develop even more.”
The jazz series also opens doors for students who might not see themselves as part of the music world. Many assume that if they are not majoring in music or haven’t played an instrument in years, there is no place for them in the department. But
these concerts offer students a firsthand look at the many ways to get involved, whether through formal ensembles, smaller groups, or simply by supporting and learning from the performances happening on campus. Becker hopes students across campus will use these events as a way to connect with the department and its opportunities. Students at WashU can stay involved in music through ensembles, lessons, and performances, all while pursuing any academic
path. They don’t have to choose between academics and the arts. The jazz series reflects that spirit, giving the whole campus a chance to experience the creativity happening here — and, for some, a reason to join in.
“Jazz is about communication,” Becker said. “It’s about connecting with people in the moment. And these students … are only going to get better as the year goes on.”
That might be the best reason to keep coming back: watching the first-years who are just finding their voices now become standouts by spring. For students who have never been involved with the music department, this year’s series is a reminder that music at WashU is open to everyone. Whether you’re in the audience or on the stage, there are countless ways to experience and support the work happening here. So come to the concert at the 560 on Oct. 15 to hear what’s new. Then stop by performances of WashU Cabaret on Nov. 4, The Bridge 2.8 concert on Nov. 12, or the Jazz Combos on Nov. 18 –and come back next spring for even more. And by the end of the year, you’ll get to hear how much the band and the music has evolved along the way.
Review: ‘One Battle After Another’ is a thrilling resistance to Trump’s America
“Viva la revolución,” screams Leonardo DiCaprio as flares fire and burst overhead in the riveting opening sequence of “One Battle After Another.” Writer and director Paul Thomas Anderson’s fantastic new film premiered Sept. 26, and it is safe to say the movie’s insurgent-military conflict storyline is absolutely electric. The beginning of the film depicts a prison break from an immigration detention facility, where the revolutionary group, the French 75, are helping terrified Spanish-speaking migrants and refugees escape the cruel military that had been holding them captive.
While this may feel uncomfortably relevant to how the Trump administration has acted recently, that is exactly Anderson’s point.
The film stars DiCaprio as Pat “Ghetto” Calhoun, a paranoid demolitions expert working for the French 75. His partner, the flighty and boisterous Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyanna Taylor), helps lead the French 75 in their
VOLUME 147, NO. 6
fight against the military. Sean Penn flawlessly portrays the Terminator-like Steven J. Lockjaw, the hyperfixated military colonel serving as their central enemy. Penn’s performance as Lockjaw shines with both his earnest desire to be recognized and the intense fervor with which he executes in his goals.
Alongside the main storyline, a Lacoste quarterzip-clad white supremacist organization known as the Christmas Adventurers Club casually drops racial slurs, interracial hate, xenophobia, and antisemitism as they plot both with and against the military.
After Pat Calhoun’s daughter, played by Chase Infiniti in a magnetic debut role, is kidnapped, he sets off on a rampage to find her, coming into conflict with everyone from another rebel agent (Regina Hall) to a bounty hunter (Eric Schweig) to a sensei (Benicio del Toro).
Although a 16-year time jump in the middle of the first act significantly slows down the story’s development, there is a growing energy and fervor woven into the film that
crescendos in a gorgeouslyshot and heart-pounding car chase in the third act. The film lasts a staggering 161 minutes, but it absolutely flies by thanks to both the soundtrack and the editing. Jonny Greenwood’s (Radiohead) thrilling plucked piano score builds to loud moments of catharsis, while Andy Jurgensen’s (“Licorice Pizza”) precise editing constantly maintains the audience’s focus.
Throughout, Michael Bauman’s (“Licorice Pizza”) astounding cinematography maintains a sharp color palette of blues and yellows in practically every single shot. There are a number of engaging tracking shots and thrilling one-takes, and any moment when his camera follows a speeding car throughout the gorgeous desert vistas of the third act is museum-worthy.
Production designer Florencia Martin (“Babylon”) creates an intricately detailed world of storefronts and streets that feels lived-in and real, making it all the more devastating when the city of Baktan Cross, where Pat Calhoun and his daughter live, is ravaged.
Outside of the notable design work and excellent acting, “One Battle After Another” feels searingly relevant to the political climate of Trump’s second term, both in its exposition and its messaging throughout.
When a military agent infiltrates a crowd of protesters to throw a Molotov cocktail on orders from his colonel in the second act, he antagonizes police armed with batons and riot shields, causing tear gas to be launched into the air. It feels as though this film could have been written about the “No Kings” protests that took place throughout the country in June, but it is in fact a modernized adaptation of the 1990 novel “Vineland” by Thomas Pynchon about resistance to Ronald Reagan’s administration.
While neither President Trump nor any modern politician is named, the comparisons are inevitable, and the parallels between the role of the military in this film and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in real life are pointed. There are many sequences that are extraordinarily tense
that make the presence of a police car feel like a threat. When the revolutionaries’ plans go awry, the resulting chases make the police feel oppressively powerful. The audience roots for them as they run on foot, despite knowing the struggle against the goliath of the state’s police force is futile.
Multiple times, we find scared immigrant families desperately trying to escape as they are hunted by armed militants through cities, trapped in a regime constantly trying to uproot them. The main characters of the film pass through these assaults, interacting with but never truly being able to save anyone.
But even in the face of such grand and important themes, “One Battle After Another” is genuinely funny! Anderson’s tight script provides many moments of respite from an otherwise emotionallywrought film. DiCaprio’s excellent physical humor shines as he hides from the military in a bathrobe and sunglasses; Colonel Lockjaw hears about a group of nuns who grow weed and fire machine guns.
Knowing as little as possible about “One Battle After Another” ensures a more enriching experience as Anderson’s carefully directed sequences gradually come together. The film is very well-paced, slowly revealing each essential element of the story exactly when it needs to. There are a number of twists and turns that keep the audience locked into the story’s developments, and it would be a shame to spoil some of the best here. Effectively, the film fights fire with fire in all the most entertaining ways. In an era when President Trump has deployed the National Guard and Marines against U.S. citizens in the past few months, a conservative Supreme Court has authorized the selective stop-and-questioning of people based on their ethnicity, and the administration’s Department of Homeland Security has launched ICE raids in the country’s biggest cities, perhaps our movies should not be subtle in their messaging. Perhaps “One Battle After Another” is the film that we need the most right now.
The WashU Jazz Band performs at the 560 Music Center.
PHOTO COURTESY OF JAMIE PERKINS
Bridging science and care: WashU advances psychedelic-assisted therapy
VICTOR HUANG STAFF WRITER
DEI EDITOR
As evidence grows that psychedelic-assisted therapies could transform treatments for psychological disorders such as depression and PTSD, the new WashU Center for Holistic Interdisciplinary Research in Psychedelics (CHIRP) is bringing together scientists, clinicians, and social workers to study not just how these potent medicines affect the brain, but also how they might be delivered safely and equitably.
Launched in 2024, CHIRP is currently led by a team of medical and social researchers, with co-directors Dr. Ginger E. Nicol, a professor of psychiatry at WashU Medicine; Dr. Leopoldo J. Cabassa, co-director of the Center for Mental Health Services Research at the Brown School; and Dr. Rebecca Lester, a professor of Anthropology and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies in the College of Arts & Sciences.
The Center is building infrastructure that supports research ranging from basic neuroscience to policy implementation. Its goal: to prepare for a future in which psychedelic-assisted therapy moves from the lab into everyday health care.
Interest in psychedelics has surged in recent years as clinical trials suggest they may provide rapid and lasting relief for people who do not respond to conventional treatments, particularly those targeting clinical depression. Unlike antidepressants that must be taken daily, psychedelic therapies typically involve one or two high-dose sessions of drugs like psilocybin, a naturally occurring hallucinogenic found in mushrooms, paired with several hours of psychotherapy. Participants undergo screening and preparatory sessions before treatment, then spend six to eight hours in a controlled environment, often wearing eye shades and listening to music while monitored by two trained therapists. Afterward, they take part in structured meetings designed to translate the experience into lasting behavioral and psychological change. Early clinical studies have reported that a single high-dose psilocybin session, combined with therapeutic support, can significantly reduce symptoms for weeks or, per Nicol, even months.
At CHIRP, Nicol provides the clinical and neuroscientific perspective. She was a co-author of a 2024 Nature study that applied precision functional mapping — a brain imaging technique developed at WashU — to examine psilocybin’s affects on human patients.
The study found that psilocybin temporarily disrupted
the brain’s default mode network, a system linked to self-reflective thought and memory. During the drug’s acute effects, participants’ brain activity patterns became more similar to each other and less like their own baseline scans, mirroring their reports of losing their usual sense of self.
Nicol’s team believes this temporary loosening of rigid self-focused patterns may help patients break free from cycles of rumination and negative thought that underlie disorders such as depression. While the altered state itself fades within hours, follow-up scans and clinical studies suggest that the experience can open a window for longerterm changes in mood and cognition. This, according to Nicol, is consistent with the concept of neuroplasticity, which posits that the brain adapts to new circumstances, experiences, and disruptions, literally changing its physical structure.
“Those changes create a window during which therapy can help people reshape thought patterns and sustain improvements, even after the drug itself has worn off.”
Studies have shown that while SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors), a class of antidepressant medications that includes Lexapro, Prozac, and Zoloft, do promote changes through neuroplasticity, Nicol says early signs indicate psychedelic treatments may effect them more rapidly.
While other animals also exhibit neuroplasticity, humans have an
unusually great capacity for such change. This, however, diminishes with age, as longstanding behaviors grow more ingrained post-adolescence — thus, per Nicol, pairing psychedelics with behavioral treatment provides a crucial synergistic effect. Such an effect is also noted with other drugs, such as SSRIs.
WashU is also serving as a trial site for a Usona Institutesponsored study testing psilocybin-assisted therapy for treatment-resistant depression. Nicol leads the trial and currently holds the university’s only license to work with Schedule I substances, which remain tightly regulated at the federal level.
Schedule I is the federal government’s strictest classification for controlled substances, applied to compounds considered to have a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use. Conducting research on these substances requires special approval from both the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
“There needs to be guidance, staff trained in safety, and an infrastructure that doesn’t typically exist in normal clinics,” Nicol said. “It takes time, resources, and careful setup to make this kind of research possible.”
This tension between preparation and regulatory constraints is part of a long history of psychedelic research. In the 1950s and 1960s, researchers studied LSD and psilocybin as potential therapies for alcoholism,
depression, and anxiety. Their work largely ended after the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 classified psychedelics as Schedule I.
Research has slowly resumed over the past two decades, supported by advances in brain imaging and renewed public interest. Studies at Johns Hopkins, NYU, and other institutions have found that a single dose of psilocybin, combined with psychotherapy, can produce lasting reductions in depression and anxiety. In 2025, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced funding for psychedelic research, and the Department of Health and Human Services created a $22 million grant program to study psychedelic-assisted therapy for chronic pain in older adults.
While clinical trials are still ongoing, Cabassa is focusing on implementation and health equity. “We need to start thinking about how we’re going to prepare routine practice settings like community health centers and federally qualified health clinics for these treatments,” he said. “Who’s going to deliver these therapies, how will they be paid for, and how do we make sure they’re safe and accessible for underserved populations?”
Cabassa and his team are working to prepare the mental health workforce for potential FDA approval of these therapies. At the Brown School, faculty are building new academic pathways, including a Master of Social Work course titled Foundations of Psychedelic Healing in
“There needs to be guidance, staff trained in safety, and an infrastructure that doesn’t typically exist in normal clinics,” Nicol said. “It takes time, resources, and careful setup to make this kind of research possible.”
a strong enough collective understanding of the diverse cultural, economic, and social contexts to deliver treatments equitably. “We need to find ways to get treatments and therapies to those that most need it and let them access it in a timely, affordable, and safe manner,” he said.
Safety, according to Cabassa, is paramount in ensuring CHIRP can achieve its goal of reducing disparities in who benefits from these therapies.
“We need safeguards and regulations in the process. We don’t want to repeat the mistakes of the past like the psychedelic backlash that happened in the late 1960s or more recently the opioid epidemic.”
Building an Academic Home
Clinical Social Work, which launched in fall 2025.
The course is part of the University Psychedelic Education Program (U-PEP), which supports faculty across the country in integrating psychedelicassisted therapy content into curricula. Cabassa also co-leads the PsychedelicAssisted Therapies Learning Community (PAT-LC) at the Brown School, which connects students and scholars with emerging research and training opportunities.
“If these treatments are to make a real impact, we need to integrate training into schools of social work and other clinical education programs now,” Cabassa said.
In addition, CHIRP has also organized several working groups to address research needs beyond clinical trials.
One team is conducting a policy analysis of psychedelic legislation across the United States, tracking developments such as Oregon’s and Colorado’s legalization of psilocybin therapy.
The aim is to compare how states regulate therapist training, clinic requirements, and patient access, and to anticipate which models may prove most sustainable.
Equity is central to these efforts. Cabassa pointed out that most participants in current industry-sponsored clinical trials are non-Hispanic white individuals, raising questions about whether results will apply broadly.
“If the people in the trials don’t represent the racial, ethnic, economic, and clinical diversity of the populations who will eventually be using these treatments, then we’re not going to know if they work as well, or in the same way, for everyone,” he said.
“We may have to adjust our treatment models to accommodate people’s needs.”
These efforts include creating supportive infrastructure in community health centers and federally qualified clinics, where appointment times and session lengths often differ from the intensive dosing and integration schedules required by these therapies.
Cabassa also highlighted the importance of representation and regulation among the providers and research teams themselves. By training a diverse group of clinicians, facilitators, and regulators, the field will hopefully have
Within its first year, CHIRP convened more than 20 faculty members across WashU to identify research priorities. The Center now runs a monthly seminar series and an interdisciplinary journal club that draws faculty, graduate students, clinicians, alumni, and community members from St. Louis and beyond. Each session involves reading and discussing a recent study, focusing on both the scientific findings and their broader implications. Attendance averages 10-12 people, per Cabassa, and partners from the University of Missouri regularly join as well.
CHIRP also serves as a hub for interdepartmental collaboration. The Center has recently partnered with WashU’s Buder Center for American Indian Studies to ensure cultural knowledge informs both research design and workforce training, including the origins of practices like using music during therapeutic sessions.
Keeping such efforts going requires stable support. At present, CHIRP is funded through the University’s Transcend Initiative and several private foundations, but it has not yet secured NIH funding for psychedelic research.
Cabassa noted that this creates unique challenges for training a workforce around treatments that remain illegal outside of clinical trials. “It’s hard to get government funding to prepare for something that hasn’t yet been FDA approved,” he said, “but if we wait until that happens, we’ll already be behind.”
For Cabassa and colleagues, the challenge is twofold: establishing scientific evidence of safety and efficacy while also ensuring that the treatments can be delivered responsibly and equitably.
“These medicines have been used for thousands of years, particularly by indigenous populations in the Americas,” Cabassa said. “Our task is to do rigorous science, learn from communities, and figure out how to bring these treatments into practice in a way that benefits everyone and honors the traditions and wisdom of indigenous communities.”
Following the leads of both age-old practices and new-age psychological and neurological science is the path to a momentous leap forward in depression treatment. This, says Nicol, is how psychedelics would revolutionize the industry.
“Psychedelics induce rapid changes in the brain,” Nicol said. “But without careful guidance and therapy, those changes may not result in safe or lasting improvements. It’s the combination of medicine and structured support that allows people to truly benefit.”
JUSTIN OCKUN
ANNA DORSEY | ILLUSTRATION EDITOR
On Sept. 6, 2025, President Trump threatened Chicago with war. Not through any official declaration, but by posting an AI-generated portrait of himself depicted as a lieutenant colonel from a Vietnam War movie on Truth Social. Trump was referencing his threat to send the National Guard to Chicago, with the first half of the caption reading, “Chicago’s about to find out why it’s called the department of WAR.”
There’s a lot to unpack in the post on its own. This article could easily be a conversation on the many reasons why the second portion of the post’s caption, “I love the smell of deportations in the morning…,” is flagrantly problematic. However, there is a more important discussion to be had beyond just one post.
Upon first glance, generative AI posts like those of Trump can seem harmless. However, people who believe AI is easily detectable are only
a subset of the population. If you saw Trump’s Sept. 6 post and immediately recognized the falsity of the image, it may be easy to underestimate the influence of these images on those with little-to-no exposure to AI images. Even if people have inklings that some images may be AI, they may have a desire for these images to be real. If a figure you highly respect posts an image that supports an idea you already hold, you want it to be true. AI can therefore feed into confirmation bias, especially surrounding political narratives, which should be cause for concern. AI could threaten democratic processes by intensifying echo chambers and political conformity.
In particular, the Trump administration has posted an unprecedented number of AI-generated images over the course of Trump’s 2024 campaign and presidency. Trump’s use of AI is dangerous not because of the absurdity of these images, but because they normalize the capricious use of this technology. Indiscriminate posting
of these images means an overwhelming amount of AI-generated content finds its way onto millions of pages and feeds.
Trump’s rage-baiting of Chicago earlier this month was not a mere venture into social media discourse. It’s far from an isolated incident.
You may have heard of Trump’s “AI Gaza Video,” where Trump and Elon Musk bring “prosperity” to the war and famine-stricken Gaza Strip. From an image of Trump as the pope, to him as an evil Star Wars jedi splashed against an uber-patriotic background, many of these images are so obviously phony that it’s funny.
The Trump administration has yet to demonstrate remorse or concern over criticisms against their frequent use of AI. After Palestinians aired their frustrations with the Feb. 25 “Trump Gaza” video, the Trump Administration and the Department of Homeland Security (namely representative Tricia McLaughlin) were seemingly unconcerned with any offense or consternation they may have caused. Furthermore, after backlash from the Catholic community over the pope image incident, Trump got defensive, not regretful. Demonstrating his attempt to use AI images as esoteric jokes, he argued that the Catholic community “loved it” and “can’t take a joke.”
Some argue that Trump’s affinity for these fake artistic images is laughable
— entertainment for either his supporters or his opposition. However, I find it not only unsettling, but also exploitative. These images take advantage of society’s preoccupation with clickbait and increasingly extreme humor, allowing dangerous rhetoric to find its way onto millions of social media feeds without consequence.
This exploitation has reallife consequences that can significantly sway public opinion. Red herrings were one of Trump’s favorite categories of AI prompts during the 2024 election.
At my Texan high school, I saw Trump’s AI images influence both adults and teens. I still wonder how many saw this falsified narrative of Kamala Harris, surrounded by communist red with a sickle and a hammer above her head, before they voted. I recall my high school French teacher decrying Harris for
her supposed communist connections. I was alarmed at her belief of the AI-generated content as true photographic evidence. I was scared of how the misinformation would influence voters, how false narratives could seem commonplace to impressionable teenagers seeing their lives reflected in politics for the first time.
Like it or not, the majority of us have seen and therefore been influenced by Trump’s AI images. Ultimately, these posts should concern all of us. It is unethical for AI to be weaponized to further harmful political narratives and rhetoric. It is unethical for a figure with the unmatched power of the U.S. presidency to use said technology on professional social media accounts. Having power necessitates careful consideration of every communication made by those wielding it — something disregarded by the
Trump administration.
Whenever this topic comes up, people tend to laugh it off.
“It’s just a joke.” Sound familiar? We should not be living in a world where apathy towards propaganda-like humor is the societal default. As silly and abstruse as Trump’s fixation with AI image creation may seem, I urge you to consider the deeper consequences of it. It is crucial to consider how these images are being consumed by not only yourself, but also the nation as a whole. The narratives pushed by our leaders should not make light of war or poverty, but instead should treat it with the sobriety and worry that the public does. Using absurdist humor is a dangerous symp-
AI-generated image of Kamala Harris at a Communist rally.
Students must support faculty and staff amid mass layoffs
In the past few weeks, the WashU community has become aware of widespread firings across the University.
On Sept. 30, Chancellor Martin sent a University-wide email on WashU’s financial situation, including an update that since March, they have eliminated 316 staff positions and closed 198 open and vacant positions on both the Danforth and Medical campuses. The chancellor cited grant and funding cuts, “restructuring,” and “budget reductions” as the cause of these firings.
On Sept. 29, the Office of University Advancement fired 38 people. One employee alleged that they were given under an hour’s notice before the meetings where they were informed of their layoffs. Two subject librarians, Rudolph Clay and Clara McLeod, were also let go over the summer. They were longtime staff members and widely respected for their commitment to the library and students, yet they were fired with six days notice. In addition to the loss of these positions, the Post-Dispatch reported that “Arts & Sciences at WashU announced cuts of 12% [of positions] to each of its academic departments in recent months,” and that the McKelvey School of Engineering eliminated 25 positions earlier this summer.
These mass layoffs are a part of the many changes to campus amid large-scale University budget cuts and financial restructuring considerations. While we are all feeling the impacts of seemingly constant changes to our campus, these firings require us to take a step back and consider how we can support the faculty and staff who face serious instability in their careers at WashU and personal lives.
Letting these faculty and staff go is not aligned with WashU’s mission to cultivate an environment that supports the pursuit of knowledge and truth. The lack of transparency around the University’s financial state and resulting decisions has created an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty, heightening stress for educators and staff. Meanwhile, the widespread changes to higher education under the Trump Administration further threaten the future of careers in academia.
There has been a lot of discussion among students about the impacts of funding cuts on our daily lives, such as the lack of toilet paper and printers in some residential buildings. While these changes are significant, we must acknowledge that most of our places at WashU are secure. We must take actions to support those in our campus community
who face a more uncertain future.
As we undergo so many changes to campus, we urge all WashU community members to respect and support faculty and staff facing severe job insecurity, especially for the large portion who are not tenured.
When given the opportunity, advocate on behalf of faculty and staff and ask them how they’d like to be supported. When you speak to them, do not be afraid to acknowledge the instability of things on campus right now and check in with them.
We can take these steps with faculty and staff from all realms of the University: While professors have not yet faced layoffs, they are still under threat. Attend your professors’ office hours to ask questions and also to ask how they are doing. Utilize and talk to the subject librarians; using them as a resource will not only benefit your academics but also signal to administrators that we value their work. Respect the staff members that we interact with, especially those that we interact with on a day-to-day basis, like dining workers. Learn their names when you can, and do your part to make sure they know that they contribute meaningfully to the University community,
because they do. Give back to your teachers and staff members whenever you get the opportunity. When the time comes for course evaluations, fill them out thoughtfully and thoroughly. When the University sends out a survey asking about student perception of dining, respond with intention. What you say in your evaluations greatly impacts how faculty are perceived and if they will advance in their jobs.
If you care or are confused about these changes to the University, keep talking about them. Many faculty, staff, and other University employees do work that you may never see or know about; even if you are not personally affected by terminations or University changes, having discussions with your peers is an important way of keeping everyone aware of important changes.
Students should support efforts by faculty and staff to advocate for their wellbeing and fair treatment. For example, the WashU branch of American Association of University Professors (AAUP) recently launched a petition claiming that the University’s financial actions do not align with its core mission. They called for greater transparency about WashU’s financial state, specifically, a special session of the Faculty Senate with the
University’s Executive Vice Chancellor for Finance and Chief Financial Officer David Gray and the Vice Chancellor for Administration and Chief Administrative Officer Nichol Luoma. While this petition was only available for faculty, students should discuss AAUP with their peers and professors, and keep an eye out for opportunities to support the organization.
Ultimately, on-campus discussions and awareness will make their way to the people affected by and affecting these changes. Making sure that University officials know students care about these layoffs is a vital form of advocacy for what we value in our education and for more widespread respect for all University workers.
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.
Astrid Burns, Special Issues Editor
Sylvie Richards, Managing Forum Editor
Amelia Raden, Senior Forum Editor
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Lyn Wilkins, Junior Forum Editor
Riley Herron, Editor-in-Chief
Sydney Tran, Editor-in-Chief
Matt Eisner, Managing Sports Editor
Hannah Much, Junior Sports Editor
Will Rosenblum, Managing Scene Editor
Sara Gelrud, Junior Scene Editor
Sophie Schwartz, Junior Scene Editor
Sophia Hellman, Senior Scene Editor
Elizabeth Grieve, Senior Scene Editor
Bri Nitsberg, Managing Photo Editor
Isabella Diaz-Mira, Photo Editor
Eran Fann, Photo Editor
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Grayce Cooper, Managing Social Media Editor
Does WashU really have need-blind admissions?
In 2014, the New York Times released an Upshot article that claimed WashU was the worst university in terms of socioeconomic diversity in the nation. Even 11 years later, that statement is probably not a surprise to current students. As a first-year who arrived on campus just a few weeks ago, I can already see how having “funds” (aka, access to your parents’ credit card) seeps into our campus culture and daily life.
I attended a private high school and was very surprised upon arriving to WashU that many aspects of the culture here are the same.
I thought that WashU’s student body would feel more representative of the world around us — something that is important at a school that claims to value diversity in perspectives and backgrounds. When I learned
that 41% of my class also went to private school, the vibe here started to make more sense (just think about all those Uber rides to Remix).
To give the university some credit, since 2014, WashU has made concrete strides toward diversifying our student body such as the implementation of needblind admissions and the no-loan policy. And progress has been made — the share of Pell Grant eligible students has jumped from just 6% in 2014 to 23% in 2025.
Still, progress is not a destination but a continual process, so what should be the next step? To me, the direction is clear: reduce our reliance on Early Decision (ED) in the admissions process.
Over the summer, a lawsuit was brought against WashU and 31 other prestigious colleges and universities over their use of ED
admissions. The suit’s argument is that the “binding” nature of Early Decision applications eliminates universities’ incentives to offer competitive financial aid packages for accepted students, driving up the price of attendance. In other words, by mandating acceptees to attend, WashU and other universities have artificially inflated the price of college. So, why do people apply ED if it may mean paying more by not knowing their other financial aid offers?
For many, the deciding factor is simply that it’s easier to get in. For the Class of 2028, the Early Decision acceptance rate was upwards of 25%, whereas chances of getting in Regular Decision were around 9%. In addition, most varsity athletes are required to apply Early Decision as part of their verbal commitment to WashU. En masse, WashU fills its classes with Early Decision applicants – over 60% of the first-year class this year applied and got in ED.
you would like more information about this open session, please send an email request to: BoardMeeting@StudLife.com no later than Thursday, October 9, at 5 p.m.
Please put the words "Board Meeting" in the subject line and your contact information in the email.
10/02 WINNERS
Despite its predominance, the Early Decision application process essentially disadvantages low-income students, because applicants have a lower chance of being accepted into the given university if price is a serious consideration in where theyyou attend school. Early Decision is marketed as a binding decision to applicants (through a “contract”
that seems legal but is by no means legally enforceable), meaning that students who were accepted ED feel obligated to attend, even if their financial aid offer is lower than they would prefer.
I pose this question to the university: if applicants who don’t need to consider price in their college decision have a better chance of being accepted, do we truly have need-blind admissions?
To be clear, WashU does not necessarily give less financial aid to ED applicants. However,The main point here is that when people apply ED, they lose the ability to compare their financial aid offers from different acceptance letters. Maybe an applicant’s ED school gave them mediocre financial aid, but would another school have been more generous? The applicant in question will never know, because they are led to believe that once they are accepted to a school ED, they must withdraw their Regular Decision applications from other schools.
The lawsuit filed over the summer highlights this idea; by taking away applicants’ sense of choice, the Early Decision admissions process is a net negative for students. This is a serious challenge to the overarching influence of ED that requires a thoughtful response from institutions like WashU.
I’m not necessarily
CAPTION CONTEST
First Place: When you realize your neighbor’s phone call is the season finale of a soap opera you didn’t know you were watching.
Matthew Gimbel, Current WashU Student
Second Place: Yeah yeah can you believe how loud she’s typing?
Jason Merkel, Casual Student Life Reader
Third Place: When you forget headphones and remember humanity is the worst playlist.
Matthew Gimbel, Current WashU Student
arguing that Early Decision should be abolished outright.
In fact, there are certain ways that the existence of ED may foster socioeconomic diversity in the admissions process; if WashU could not guarantee that a share of students would definitively attend, they might have to rely on merit-based scholarships, which take away from need-based financial aid funds. I want to bring attention, however, to how our school’s heavy use of Early Decision may contribute to the lack of socioeconomic diversity that pervades our campus. It’s time to move past our reliance on ED and seriously consider whether its unintended consequences are causing us to backslide on our progress. Universities should be
institutions that uplift young people by extending the reach of their resources. They should be places of opportunity – opportunity for students to create better lives for themselves and their families, and opportunity for students of all backgrounds to learn from each others’ perspectives. A school’s socioeconomic diversity reflects their commitment to these principles. WashU is most certainly not the only university in the nation that relies on ED admissions. In light of the lawsuit, this moment may be an opportunity for WashU to both make meaningful strides forward in the name of diversity and also lead a national movement away from the practice of Early Decision admissions.
Scan the QR code to enter your submission by 11:59 p.m. on Monday.
MADDIE MORGAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
SPORTS
Bear Nation Varsity Band hits all the right notes during season’s first performance
BEE AUSTIN
The Bear Nation Varsity Band (BNVB) set the tone at the WashU football game on Sept. 27. The band filled the air with music as students and their families filled every corner of the Francis Olympic Field bleachers, their eyes fixed on the football game. The air was alive with cheers from the crowd, synchronized chants from the cheerleaders, and sharp choreographed movements from the dance team, while players hustled across the field. Amid the excitement, BNVB connected fans and athletes with every beat of their music.
As WashU faced off against North Central College, BNVB kicked off its 10th season as the University’s student-run pep band. The pep band has become a staple of game days, energizing crowds and building a tight-knit community of musicians along the way.
“It really was dumb luck that I ended up here,” Senior, BNVB president, and tenor saxophone player Zoe Carter said. “I totally wasn’t planning on doing this, and now all of my close friends are from the
band. Clearly, I enjoy it, given that I dedicate a lot of my life to it.”
Over the past decade, BNVB has grown into a lively ensemble that plays at football, basketball, and softball games. Many members come in with prior band experience, which helps the group pick up new material quickly. With around 40 songs in their repertoire — split between “shorts” and “longs” — the band rehearses only for an hour each week. For each hour-long practice, the band learns about five songs, quickly building a diverse setlist that keeps games energetic and engaging.
“We always say that this is a super low time commitment thing, which it definitely is, but you can make it a much bigger time commitment,” Carter said. “I’m a little bit of a crazy person and think about the band 24/7, practically.”
From conducting to directing to curating the setlist, every aspect of the band is managed by its members. Sophomore, public relations chair, trumpet player Kelsey Conover said that rehearsals are entirely student-run.
“[Student management] gives the exec board more flexibility and makes the band itself feel more
tight-knit,” Conover said.
Their close relationships can also be credited to the band’s size. With roughly 40 people in the club, the band must work together to maintain a cohesive sound. This is done through strategic song arrangements that can be easily played by the woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments that make up the band.
Both Conover and Carter attribute much of the band’s community spirit to its traditions. Before the first rehearsal, members gather for a “walk party” where upperclassmen mingle with newcomers. The band also sponsors social events, like bowling, paintball, and a trip to Six Flags, to create a strong group camaraderie. And if you look closely, between sets, the band plays “BNVB bingo” featuring squares such as “WashU scores the first touchdown” and “The mascot says hi to the band.”
“It is a fun way to be more engaged with each other during the games,” Carter said.
On gameday, the BNVB transforms the stadium with energy and rhythm.
“The games are 100% better than rehearsals,” Conover said. “It’s higher energy, and we have close relationships with some
of the teams. The softball team interacts with us, the football team told us they love our sound effects, and the cheerleaders coordinate with us so we don’t overlap.”
The band builds on the energy from fans at Francis Olympic Field. At football games, the band sits in the bleachers, in the area where students typically sit. So far this season, football has had high attendance — a combined 4,500 people have come to the first two WashU football games this year.
“We had the most people come to a game [Sept. 27] that I think we’ve had since my freshman year, from our standpoint,” Carter said.
“I was really happy, and I feel like we sounded good together.”
Even when WashU isn’t winning, the band keeps spirits high, and fans bop their heads along to the music.
“I feel like we’re definitely helping to hype up everyone … even more so yesterday [Sept. 27], just because it was easier to get down because we weren’t
winning,” Carter said.
Though they may be a small group and not always the focus of attention, the band’s presence is impossible to ignore. Their music, energy, and traditions enhance every game. Without the BNVB, gameday would feel a little less vibrant, a little less alive: a reminder that sometimes, the heartbeat of a game isn’t just on the field, but in the band that drives it.
“We want to bring our best performances and spread joy to the people of WashU,” Conover said.
Football falls to North Central 41-14
Moore was intercepted in Bears territory, leading to a Cardinals touchdown.
On Sept. 27, WashU’s football team matched up at home against conference opponent No. 1 North Central College. North Central has been a perennial force in the world of Division III football, coming off of three NCAA Championships in the last six years. They have also been a historically unfavorable matchup for the Bears, who have a 1-10 all-time record against the Cardinals. North Central continued their streak of dominance against the Bears in 2025, defeating WashU 41-14. Despite their record against North Central, the Bears went into the game highly motivated as an energetic crowd filled the stadium on Parent’s Weekend, creating an undeniable atmosphere. With two wins under their belt, the Bears looked to flip the script against one of the country’s most dominant teams. Even though the Cardinals ultimately prevailed, the Bears still demonstrated their tenacity against a top-ranked opponent, demonstrating their potential as the season continues.
“Our guys love competing against the best teams on our schedule,” head coach Aaron Keen said about the squad’s mentality heading into the game. “It’s a great measure of where we are as a program. We look forward to these opportunities.” WashU came out of the gate hungry, forcing a Cardinal punt on the first drive of the game. But the tide turned them right back as junior quarterback Levi
Despite being down a score just two minutes into play, the Bears kept their heads up. After an
interception from senior linebacker Salomon Dessalines, they marched right back downfield for a touchdown off of a 16-yard completion to sophomore receiver Lucas Blumenthal.
With the score knotted up 7-7, the Bears looked to maintain their momentum defensively. However, the Cardinals swiftly answered back with a 54-yard completion followed by a
touchdown of their own. They would score a field goal and then another touchdown unanswered, extending the Bears’ deficit to 17 points. Midway through the
second quarter, the Bears seemed to regain their footing. Off of a crucial interception from junior Joy Chane, Moore connected with junior receiver Makael Carter for a 43-yard touchdown to make it a 24-14 game.
Following a successful North Central field goal, the Bears found themselves at a relatively modest deficit at the half, trailing the Cardinals 27-14. At this point, they had already scored more points than in their last three outings against the Cardinals combined.
Coming out of the locker room at the half, the Bears received the kickoff, but quickly punted it away. From there, despite valiant effort from WashU’s secondary, North Central’s offensive firepower could not be denied as they went on to score both a field goal and touchdown. The Bears were unable to regain their momentum and fell to the Cardinals, 44-14. Despite the crushing loss, the Bears’ ability to force turnovers was certainly the highlight of the game. With three picks and two forced fumbles, the secondary proved it could go toe-totoe with one of D-III’s most efficient passing attacks. Keen hopes to use the loss as a learning opportunity for the squad as they get ready to host College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin foe Illinois Wesleyan University on Oct. 4 at 6:00 p.m.
“We have a phrase that we use for when we stumble a little bit: this week is a ‘get right’ week,” Keen said. “We’re gonna work hard to correct our mistakes and get back on the winning track next weekend.”
In 2025, Bear Nation Varsity Band is celebrating its 10th year of bringing music to the Francis Field stands.
JESSI SZAFONI | CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
WashU played Division III’s best team on Sept. 27 at Francis Field.
JESSI SZAFONI | CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
No. 10 Volleyball goes 2-1 at first UAA Round Robin
The No. 10 WashU volleyball team travelled to Atlanta, Georgia to compete in the first University Athletic Association Round Robin of 2025 on Sept. 27 and 28. With their
performance, they claimed the No. 2 spots in total kills and assists in the UAA, tallying 638 and 603 respectively across the weekend. Additionally, they secured the top conference ranking in opponent blocks, with the Bears’ hits being blocked only 74.5 times. With these numbers, the Bears were the standout
team of the weekend, showing their grit, determination and resilience. In the three games they played against New York University (NYU), University of Rochester, and The University of Chicago, they were able to convert pressure into persistence, becoming a team to watch as conference play continues.
First-year Nia Jones spikes the ball in a recent game in the fieldhouse.
MSOC
from page 1
WashU continued their dominance early against Greenville, with Wirtschafter connecting with Susee for the junior’s team-leading ninth goal of the season in the eighth minute. WashU held the Panthers to just one shot throughout the game, and goals from Gomez, Kochen, and junior defender Carter Sasser extended the Bears’ lead to 4-0. Gomez, who is second on the team in goals despite
being a defender, is one of the key pieces to WashU’s game on both sides of the ball.
“This year, we’ve got a great team culture,” Gomez said. “We all seem like we’re going towards the
NYU, 3-2 (26-24, 14-25, 25-22, 26-28, 15-11)
WashU started off the weekend with a hard-fought five-set victory against NYU.
The first set was a tight race to 25. The score remained close the entire way — after WashU went on a 5-0 stretch, NYU answered with their own 5-1 run. Tied at 24, the Bears scored the last two points to win the set.
After dropping the second set 14-25, the Bears came out strong in the third, taking an early 8-2 lead. Despite two late runs by NYU to narrow the gap, WashU hung on to the lead, winning 24-22.
The fourth set featured more close competition. The Bears fought hard, managing to spoil three NYU set points before eventually losing 28-26.
Finally, the Bears came back from an early deficit to win the final set 15-11. They sealed their victory with an explosive 4-0 run to end the match.
The Bears were led by senior setter Sam Buckley’s 49 assists and senior hitter Anna Freeman’s 16 kills.
Junior libero Ellie Laird also put up an outstanding defensive performance with 22 digs.
“Ellie has done a great job stepping into the libero role,” head coach Vanessa Walby wrote in a statement to Student Life. “She’s super quick on defense and is reading the game really well. Her match against NYU was also one of her best serve receive performances yet.”
Rochester, 3-0 (25-21, 25-12, 25-16)
At first, WashU’s second match of the day against Rochester seemed like it would be another tight game. However, the Bears stayed in control the entire
same goal. It’s translating to the field and off the field, and we’re building a team connection.”
The Bears will have a massive challenge on Saturday, Oct. 4, when they face No. 12
match, which they would eventually take 3-0.
Despite a close start to the first set, WashU eventually pulled away to a 14-9 lead.
Laird continued her strong performance with two key digs to turn the momentum in the Bears’ favor during this stretch. After that, WashU never trailed, and despite a late 5-0 run from Rochester, the Bears went on to win the set 25-21.
WashU dominated in the second and third sets, winning 25-12 and 25-16, respectively.
In the second, the Bears exploded to a commanding lead thanks to an 8-0 run.
The third was more of the same, with WashU taking an early 4-0 lead and continuing to dominate from there.
Walby cited the Bears’ consistent play — both offensive and defensive — as the key to their victory.
“Two things that really stood out for us all weekend were our serve receive and our attacking,” she said. “Those two go hand in hand, and our players did a great job keeping a high standard in both. That consistency really helped us play steady and find success.”
On the attack, junior hitter Leah Oyewole led the Bears with 11 kills, while Laird continued her strong performance with 12 kills. Freeman contributed across the board with 3 aces, 9 kills, and 7 digs. Their strong play allowed the Bears to secure a must-win victory against Rochester, the lowest-ranked UAA team headed into Saturday’s play.
UChicago, 2-3 (25-18, 21-25, 18-25, 25-19, 12-15)
Throughout the second set, the Bears and Maroons slowly crawled to the 25 point finish line, tying at 14-14 and 20-20, with the Maroons ultimately pulling ahead with a series of kills and aces, securing the set with a 25-21 win.
In the third set, Chicago maintained momentum, securing a 25-18 win against the Bears.
In the fourth set, WashU fought hard to stay alive. After securing a 16-9 lead, they left Chicago in the dust as Nia Jones secured the set winning kill, capping the set off at 25-19.
In a thrilling fifth set, WashU and UChicago climbed point by point throughout the match. UChicago ultimately broke away with a 15-12 final set.
This however, was not a total loss for WashU.
“I especially loved seeing so many of the skills we worked on during the week carry over into the match. For me, that’s always a win,” Walby said when reflecting on the match. The Bears led in kills (73–65), blocks (8–5), and assists (70–64). Freeman and Oyewole posted 22 kills apiece, with senior blocker Eva Boling adding 10. Buckley tallied her fifth double-double, double-digit assists and digs, with 61 assists and 12 digs.
Looking ahead to the upcoming games in the Papa John’s Invite, Walby believes that the team “will take lessons from this loss and continue to grow together” as they head into the second half of their season.
In the first set against UChicago, WashU executed dynamic plays, finishing with kills from first-year blocker Nia Jones, junior hitter Naya Ohuabunwa, Freeman, and Buckley to secure five of the six last points in the set.
Brandeis University in their University Athletic Association (UAA) season opener. While the Judges will pose a threat to WashU’s winning streak, Bordelon believes his team is up for the challenge.
“I think it’s only going to get tougher in UAA [play],” Bordelon said. “We’re building some momentum. We’re playing with a lot of confidence, and there’s a lot of belief in this squad, so we’re really excited.”
