The independent newspaper of Washington University in St. Louis since 1878 THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2024
VOLUME 145, NO. 21
IN MEMORY MFA students choreograph dynamic show (Scene, pg 3)
WWW.STUDLIFE.COM
“IT WAS REALLY SPECIAL” Swim and dive excels at NCAA Division III Championships (Sports, pg 7)
BOTANY 101
Learn more about the trees and flowers blooming on campus (Scene, pg 4)
Washington University to buy Fontbonne University’s campus
BRI NITSBERG | STUDENT LIFE Washington University announced plans to buy Fontbonne University’s campus on March 11. VIA POOLOS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Washington University announced that it would purchase Fontbonne University’s campus, March 11. Fontbonne University announced in an online statement that it would not be admitting a new freshman class in the fall
of 2024. Nancy Blattner, Fontbonne’s president, wrote that Fontbonne was unable to continue operations due to financial strain and a decreasing student population. “After many years of declining enrollments and a shrinking endowment, the financial position of the university is no longer able to be sustained for the long term,” Blattner wrote. “The university’s
Board of Trustees voted to cease operations effective summer 2025. The private Catholic university has shown signs of stress in the past few years. At the beginning of the 2023-24 academic year, Fontbonne introduced a new sprint football program in an effort to boost enrollment. After the first season, however, half the team had dropped out. The St. Louis Post Dispatch reported
that the school has experienced a 60% drop in enrollment in the past decade. The University wrote in its own online statement that it will buy Fontbonne’s 16-acre campus and lease it back to them “for a nominal amount as they wind down operations.” In a March 5 interview with Student Life, University Chancellor Andrew Martin answered “no”
to a question about whether the University had any plans to buy Fontbonne’s campus. Julie Flory, Vice Chancellor for Marketing and Communications, said that at the time of the interview, the deal was not in place. In its statement, the University wrote that it did not have “any definite plans at this time for our potential use of the property.”
Jennifer Coolidge led a Senate meeting where “threaten[ed] to unilaterally expel desire that certain groups ought announced ALIANA MEDIRATTA representatives voted to Senators if they failed to fill out to feel unwelcome on campus. JUNIOR NEWS EDITOR pass a resolution, which she a specific form, despite the fact “I think all students should as 2024 Comco-sponsored, calling on the that (with only one exception) it is feel welcome and have a space A petition to recall sophomore University to divest from Boeing. unconstitutional for the Speaker on WashU’s campus,” Churiwal mencement Sonal Churiwal as the current During the meeting, Churiwal to unilaterally expel someone said. “What I have said and what Student Union (SU) Speaker of also gave a speech in support of it from the Senate.” The exception I will continue to say is that I view Speaker
Petition released to recall Speaker of Senate
the Senate due to allegations of improper conduct, was uploaded onto Washington University’s Group Organizer (WUGO) website, March 26. The petition asks that Churiwal be removed “for the sake of unity, justice, and tolerance” due to alleged abuse of power, violation of neutrality rules, threats to expel senators, and generally creating a “culture of fear.” The petition does not have an author’s name attached to it. Per the SU Constitution, any constituent may petition for a recall. If at least 5% of the undergraduate student body signs the petition, it would then be put to a vote in which the proposed recall must pass by a majority vote by students. Churiwal told Student Life that she believes the petition is clearly a political retaliation for the public stances she has taken. “I’m confident this is a direct reaction to the meeting that happened last week, the passing of the [resolution to] divest from Boeing and me taking an openly pro-Palestine stance,” Churiwal said. On March 19, Churiwal
during the discussion portion of the meeting. In addition to general criticisms of her behavior, the petition cites three different SU rules Churiwal has allegedly broken. Per Article II Section III of the SU Statutes, the body follows Robert’s Rules of Order, a set of rules governing parliamentary procedure. The petition alleges that Churiwal broke two rules in the Rules of Order and one in the SU Constitution. Both of the Rules of Order she allegedly broke focus on whether the presiding officer, in this case the Speaker of the Senate, should offer their opinion on the topic of the meetings they run. The first section states that unless the presiding officer is in a committee or small board, they do not “enter into discussion of the merits of pending questions.” The second section states that president officers have the same rights to debate as any other students but that the impartiality required of their role means that they are not meant to exercise those rights while presiding. An earlier part of the petition stated that Churiwal
referenced is written at the bottom of the petition, where a section of the Constitution states that the Speaker may “have the power to remove a Senator from office after two unexcused absences.” Churiwal told Student Life that she believes this is referencing an incident where Senate did not meet the necessary number of representatives necessary to be present at a joint meeting with the other branches of SU, which led her to send out a reminder to Senators telling them that if they failed to fill out an absence form for a joint session, barring emergencies, they would be removed. “This email was sent with the advice and consent of members of Senate leadership,” Churiwal said. “It was not unilaterally done, and I did speak to Constitutional Council about it afterwards.” Other allegations in the petition included statements that Churiwal has inappropriately attacked Senators in public comments made to Student Life, posted the names of how Senators voted on a particular resolution despite the fact that the petition says that was not common practice, and openly stated her
my job to advocate for the groups that are the most marginalized on campus.” Churiwal said that the petition is a misrepresentation of her role and her actions as Speaker. “A majority of the things cited in the petition are topics that have already been addressed within Senate and therefore I don’t particularly see a need to go through the whole recall process to address those issues,” Churiwal said. Churiwal said that on her Senate name placard she chose to write the phrase: “to advocate is to love all and to love loudly, free Palestine and fire perpetrators.” “I wrote this on my placard because, to advocate for everyone and to advocate loudly and not hide my beliefs is something I believe is a core tenet of advocacy work and leadership,” she said. “I stand by all of my statements and if the consequences of that are that I am recalled from Student Union — I already lost my election for executive vice president which I do also believe was in large part influenced by my pro-Palestine stance — I have absolutely no regrets for that.”
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During the annual Senior Toast, Chancellor Martin announced that Jennifer Coolidge will speak at the 2024 commencement ceremony, March 27. Coolidge, who recently won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Tanya McQuoid in White Lotus, will deliver her speech on Francis Olympic Field. She also gained recognition for her roles in “American Pie” and “Legally Blonde.” The ceremony will be full in-person and include speeches from Coolidge, Martin, and senior Alejandro Ramirez. The University also released a video on X, formerly known as Twitter, set to spoof White Lotus theme music, that included a message from Coolidge. “I cannot wait to see all of your beautiful faces,” Coolidge said. She also expressed her excitement about coming to deliver the speech. “If you don’t know who I am, that’s too bad because I am coming to your campus on May 13 to give the commencement speech for the Class of 2024.”