On Tuesday, Aug. 27 the Student Government Association met for their first weekly meeting of the school year. They discussed Phi Delta Theta’s funding request for their annual Crab Fest, as well as various initiatives for the 2025–26 school year.
On Aug. 25, students, faculty and affiliates attended the First Look Ceremony for the new Bloomberg Student Center on Homewood Campus. Guests toured open-concept areas, sampled dining options set to open this fall and explored private rooms for studying, gaming, dancing and more.
On Wednesday, Aug. 13 the University announced in an email that the Student Center will open Monday, Aug. 25 with regular hours from 7:30 a.m. to midnight. To kick off the event, a “First Look Celebration” will be held at 5 p.m. on opening day, according to an email sent to the student body.
On Friday, June 6, Hopkins filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting Harvard University in its ongoing legal fight with the Trump administration. Through the brief, Hopkins and 23 other U.S. universities have publicly promoted Harvard’s case.
The majority of postdocs voted in favor of union representation by a vote of 560 to 17. Thus, Hopkins’s population of approximately 1,600 postdocs will henceforth be represented by PRO-UAW in collective bargaining with the university.
On Wednesday, May 21, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the administration will begin to “aggressively revoke” the visas of international Chinese students, including those with ties to the Chinese Communist Party or those studying in “critical fields.”
On June 4, approximately 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel from the Hopkins Hospital spilled into Inner Harbor, Baltimore. Beginning on East Fayette Street, the spill originated from the hospital’s emergency generators when the tanks were overfilled, resulting in the discharge of diesel into various stormwater drains that ultimately led to the Patapsco River.
On May 22, Hopkins conducted the University-wide Commencement ceremony to recognize the achievements of the Class of 2025 and celebrate the completion of their degree requirements. In interviews and responses to a survey conducted by The News-Letter, recent graduates commented on this year's ceremony.
On May 1, Teachers and Researchers United organized the May Day Picket protest at the Homewood and East Baltimore campuses. The protest demanded that Hopkins declare itself a sanctuary campus, end student surveillance, support the international community, fully fund all ongoing research and commit to academic freedom.
At around 5 a.m. on May 8, the Hopkins Justice Collective formed the Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya Liberated Zone on Keyser Quad. Members of Johns Hopkins Public Safety and the Johns Hopkins Police Department responded to the attempted encampment, dismantling tents and dispersing protesters.
On Monday, April 21 the University announced a series of initiatives aimed at enhancing intellectual diversity across its community and curriculum in partnership with center-right think tank the American Enterprise Institute.
On Wednesday, April 23, the Hopkins Postdoctoral Researchers Organizing Committee (Hopkins-PRO) filed a petition to form a union with United Auto Workers (UAW), representing 1,600 postdoctoral researchers.
On Monday, April 28, President Ronald J. Daniels announced in an email that 36 of the 37 previously terminated graduate student visas had been reactivated by the federal government. The following day, April 29, University administrators hosted a second virtual “Community Updates” briefing to elaborate on the reinstatements and discuss broader guidelines and resources for international students.
On Friday, April 11 the Hopkins Political Union held its second debate of the semester, tackling two of the most contested issues in American politics: health-care policy and abortion. There were two unresolved guiding questions: Should health care be left to the free market, and is abortion health care?
On April 25, 2025, a Hopkins spokesperson shared an update about the bus accident. In the update, the spokesperson described the nature of the accident and provided the University’s response to the crash.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
