Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
November 14, 2025 November 14, 2025 | Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896

News & Features

RUI DO ROSARIO / DESIGN & LAYOUT EDITOR  The News & Features team conducted an investigation into the Board of Trustees, highlighting the background of each member, recent board activities and student feedback. 

Inside the University's chief governing body: The Board of Trustees

By THE NEWS AND FEATURES TEAM | April 25, 2025

On Aug. 24, 1867, Johns Hopkins University established its Board of Trustees, consisting of 12 members responsible for defining the University's mission and values. Today, the Board has expanded to 30 trustees and six ex officios. The Board now acts as the University’s chief governing body, responsible for academic, financial and policy actions of the University, including voting on tenure, setting tuition for academic programs, determining compensation for the president and supervising University investments. 

STEVEN SIMPSON / PHOTO EDITOR Chief Vice President of Public Safety and Chief of Police Branville G. Bard, Jr. delivered updates and goals and shared the current and future direction of the JHPD.

Bard, students and community groups respond to JHPD progress

By MYRA SAEED and SARAH HUANG | April 24, 2025

On Monday April 7, The News-Letter interviewed Branville G. Bard, Jr., the chief of police for the Johns Hopkins Police Department (JHPD) and vice president for Public Safety. In an interview with The News-Letter, Bard explained that the pause was intended to give the University time to build the department deliberately; align with statewide, police reform legislation and expand the broader public safety structure, including behavioral health crisis response.

STEVEN SIMPSON / PHOTO EDITOR In a "Community Updates" event, the administration revealed that 37 Hopkins graduate students have had their visas revoked. The News-Letter interviewed members of the international community for their reactions.

International community reacts to University resources provided in face of visa revocations

By KAYLEE NGUYEN and MYRA SAEED | April 23, 2025

As of April 21, more than 1,500 students from several hundred colleges and universities, have had a sudden change in their F-1/J-1 visa status or Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) status. In many of these cases, the exact reasons for these changes in visa status remain unclear, and several universities have stated that they only discovered the changes by consulting the SEVIS database.

COURTESY OF HOPKINS RETROSPECTIVE A photograph of Gilman Hall taken in the 1920s.

Hopkins Admissions: Then and Now

By SHAAN UDANI | April 23, 2025

In his inaugural address, President Daniel Coit Gilman, the University’s first president, made a statement on what he expects out of the University’s students, stating, “Our simple aim is to make scholars strong, bright, useful, and true.”  With such a promise came an extensive tradition of selective admission into the University.

COURTESY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES In an interview with The News-Letter, Hopkins professor Betsy Bryan described her experiences with archeological field work and overseeing the Archeology Museum.

Humans of Hopkins: Betsy M. Bryan

By JULIA SCHAGER | April 23, 2025

Betsy M. Bryan is the Alexander Badawy Professor Emerita of Egyptian Art and Archaeology as well as the Museum Director and Curator of the Johns Hopkins Archaeological Museum. In an interview with The News-Letter, Bryan described her experiences in archeology and field work and reflected on the future goals of the museum. 

COURTESY OF KAYLEE NGUYEN Margaret Atwood virtually spoke to students as part of the Hopkins Seminar series.

Hopkins Lecture Series hosts Margaret Atwood in Virtual Conversation

By KAYLEE NGUYEN and ISABELLA WANG | April 20, 2025

On Thursday April 10, the Hopkins Lecture Series hosted an event titled “An Evening in Virtual Conversation with Margaret Atwood” in collaboration with the Aronson Program for International Studies and the International Studies Leadership Council. This event was part of their 2025 spring series to facilitate discussion on topics of domestic and international significance.

STEVEN SIMPSON / PHOTO EDITOR 37 Hopkins graduate students who have had their visas revoked by the State Department.

University hosts "Community Updates" briefing on immigration and student visas

By JULIA SCHAGER | April 20, 2025

On April 15, University administration hosted a virtual Community Updates conversation titled “Immigration and student visas.” The event was a conversation between Interim Vice President and General Counsel Tiffany Wright, Vice President for Public Safety and Chief of the Johns Hopkins Police Department Branville Brown, and Associate Vice Provost of of International Student and Scholar Services Jim Brailer. 

STEVEN SIMPSON / PHOTO EDITOR Student Government Association and Hopkins Organization for Programming elections saw a significant decline in turnout, compared to the previous year. 

2025–2026 SGA election results are announced

By KAYLEE NGUYEN | April 16, 2025

On Friday, April 11, the Committee on Student Elections (CSE) released the results for the 2025–2026 Homewood Undergraduate Elections. These positions included the Executive Board, Senate and Class Programming Councils for the Student Government Association (SGA) and the president and vice president for the Hopkins Student Organization for Programming (the HOP).

STEVEN SIMPSON / PHOTO EDITOR HJC called for the prohibition of immigration enforcement activities on campus

HJC demands a sanctuary campus prohibiting ICE activities

By SARAH HUANG | April 7, 2025

Hopkins Justice Initiative (HJC) released a statement on March 27, demanding a meeting with the University administration to negotiate a sanctuary campus to protect noncitizen students. In their statement, HJC called for the University to prohibit all U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities on the Hopkins campus, sever partnerships with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and refuse compliance with the federal government’s efforts to surveil, monitor or deport students.

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