The DePaulia 09_15_2025 by The DePaulia

DePaulia

The Issue #110, Volume #1

DePaul's student-run newspaper since 1923 September 15, 2025

depauliaonline.com

DePaul doubles down on mission amid political pressure By LiLi Jarvenpa and Sofia Joseph The DePaulia Editor-in-Chief & La De Paulia Editor-in-Chief

As the Trump administration has taken aim at some higher learning institutions, DePaul President Rob Manuel is reaffirming the university’s commitment to building communities, protecting students, providing funding and maintaining diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. In an interview with student media on Friday, Sept. 12, he also noted that while freshman and transfer enrollment has risen, a significant decline in international student enrollment is creating financial challenges. The Department of Education announced on Sept. 10 it would end or reprogram all discretionary funding for Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) grant programs which are deemed “unconstitutional.” DePaul is an Asian American and Native Pacific Islander Serving Institution, and has been working to reach Hispanic Serving Institution status. According to Manuel, DePaul does not receive federal funding from MSI programs. He said the funds DePaul receives are not from MSI grants and the recent announcement will not cause financial issues. All efforts to support students are to ensure they feel welcome, not to gain federal funding, he said. “The more important thing is that we need to serve and make sure every student here has a path to success, and that includes ev-

GIACOMO CAIN | THE DEPAULIA

DePaul President Rob Manuel sits on Lincoln Park Campus for an interview with student media on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025. All efforts to support students are to ensure they feel welcome, not to gain federal funding, he said.

ery population that we have here,” Manuel said. “But we didn’t do it because we were going to get money from the federal government. We did it because it connects with our mission and it serves all of the students in the population we have on campus.” “And we’ll do that within the law,” he said. DePaul had 4,321 Hispanic students enrolled in fall quarter 2024, 3,519 of which were undergraduate students, according to the DePaul census data. In order to qualify for Hispanic Serving Institution status, a school must reach

Aux Cord Wars takes over Blue Demon Welcome By April Klein Arts & Life Editor

This unique blend of a performance and game show allowed new freshman and elder DePaul students alike to dance along to pop music with their cohorts. On a sunny afternoon in DePaul’s Lincoln Park Quad on Tuesday, Sept. 9, crowds of freshmen gathered to celebrate the annual Blue Demon Welcome. Booths were set up around the area where people could get snacks

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and win various pieces of DePaul branded merchandise. Overlooking the swath of students still clad in their complementary navy blue DePaul t-shirts was a large metal wire stage. On that stage stood DJ Trizzy Dollaz, with two men operating different DJ decks flanking either side of him. Dollaz shouted out into the crowd an enthusiastic “What’s up DePaul?!” and received rapturous applause. DJ Trizzy Dollaz, known on

25% Hispanic undergraduate enrollment. In fall 2024, DePaul reached 24.8%. In December 2024, DePaul announced it was nearing HSI status and would continue its efforts to make that happen. Even with potential cuts from the Department of Education, Manuel seems set on maintaining momentum. “We are, by the numbers, HSI … if you’re going after it just because you’re going to get funded, that’s not really the good spirit of this work,” Manuel said. “If you go after it to serve your population, that won’t stop. Right?” a day-to-day basis as Tremaine Simpson, is the co-host and emcee of Aux Cord Wars, a game show/ performance troupe that frequently tours college campuses around the world. The event pins two audience members against one another to see which amateur DJ can get the crowd moving with a set they put together on the spot Aux Cord Wars officially began in 2018, headed by CEO and host Jay Dukes, where Simpson originally began as a patron of the event back in 2019.

Funding for federal TRIO programs has been targeted by Trump within the last year. Manuel, however, says that it has been “re-upped” at DePaul. “We need it, we want it, and it’s very helpful, but the conversation for us is not necessarily that we’re doing it because of the funding. Again, we’re doing it because of our mission,” he said. Finding a balance between community needs and the Vincentian mission also plays a role in the university’s handling of diversity, equity and inclusion, he added.

Frequent federal changes pushed Manuel into doing a review of “things that are now illegal to have preferential treatments,” like certain scholarships and admissions policies. Now, DePaul’s Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity, Student Affairs at DePaul and the Division of Mission and Ministry are focusing more on support for students through programming, student education, faculty development and more. That focus could help protect programs like DePaul’s TRiO Student Support Services since the university would not need to depend on dollars coming from the federal government, he said. “Our approach is to make sure that anybody we accept has a path to graduation and a path to life chances that they wouldn’t have had,” Manuel said. The decrease in international enrollment is part of a trend seen across the United States in recent months, given the difficulty of obtaining a visa and the Trump administration’s revocation of student visas for minor violations without allowing an opportunity to contest the allegations, prompting lawsuits. Manuel has previously noted the decreasing international student enrollment has placed financial strain on DePaul. The university is discussing how to manage the financial change and continue educating students. He said there will not be specific plans to handle the reduction until the 2025-26 census comes out.

See MANUEL, page 3

GIACOMO CAIN | THE DEPAULIA

DePaul students dance on stage during Aux Cord Wars’ performance during Blue Demon Welcome on the DePaul University Quad on Tuesday, Sep. 9, 2025. Featured students competed in dance-offs to win cash prizes.