On Nov. 6, Former President Donald J. Trump was announced as the winner of the 2024 presidential election over Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump received 295 electoral votes, including decisive votes from various swing states, compared to Harris’ 226, and will return to office for a second term.
The Hopkins Lecture Series collaborated with Hopkins Votes and the Political Science Steering Committee to host Senator Ben Cardin (D-Maryland) for their final event of the semester on Oct. 29 to discuss foreign policy.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently recognized Hopkins for its use of green power sources, which accounts for 60% of the University’s total power needs. The University currently ranks fourth among colleges in the EPA’s Green Power Partnership — a voluntary program aimed at protecting human health and the environment. Furthering its work in sustainability, the University released a Final Sustainability Plan, committed to recognizing the gravity of the climate crisis and providing a plan for the development of sustainable solutions at Hopkins.
Hopkins students have cast their ballots and are now awaiting election results, joining voters nationwide. Hopkins Votes held a March to the Polls event at 12:30 p.m. Students met at the Beach, and then walked or took a HopVan to the Waverly Public Library polling station to vote or register to vote on Election Day.
The 112th Student Government Association (SGA) convened on Tuesday, Oct. 29 for their weekly meeting. The senate began the session with a presentation from the Hopkins Dining staff, covering recent updates and future plans. The team highlighted new additions to the Hopkins Café — such as a poke bar, updates to Levering Kitchens and the introduction of Niecy’s Fabulous Juice Bar replacing Good Part and Co. at the Ralph S. O’Connor Recreation Center.
Following the University’s release of data on the socioeconomic, racial and ethnic backgrounds of the Class of 2028 — the first admitted since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision limiting race-conscious admissions — student leaders from various cultural and affinity organizations issued statements condemning the significant decline in underrepresented students within the freshman class.
The Student Government Association (SGA) convened on Tuesday, Oct. 22 for their weekly meeting.This week’s meeting included a public town hall to discuss the decrease in the racial diversity in the class of 2028 and future steps to address the issue, moderated by Senator Cynthia Sanchez Hidalgo, SGA Treasurer Brandon Benjamin, Senator Srigouri Oruganty and Senator Nayshawn Ferebee.
As Election Day approaches, discussions across campus regarding the candidates and the state of politics in the United States have grown. These discussions have shed light on which political issues students are prioritizing at the polls this year and how students are being civically engaged on campus.
The Aronson Center for International Studies, in collaboration with the International Studies Leadership Council, hosted the last event of their Fall 2024 Speaker Series, titled “Faculty Fridays: A New World Ahead,” on Friday, Oct. 25. The event featured a discussion by Professor Bentley Allan — an associate professor of political science — regarding the evolving dynamics of global climate governance.
Dr. Carolyn Sufrin is a physician and associate professor at the School of Medicine and the School of Public Health. In an interview with The News-Letter, she discussed her research, work in obstetrics and gynecology, and advocacy for the reproductive rights of incarcerated people.
Hoptoberfest 2024, one of the signature events of the Hopkins Student Organization for Programming (the HOP), started on Wednesday, Oct. 23 on the Keyser Quad and featured various activities ranging from inflatables to lawn games. The event held Farm Day on Oct. 24, a haunted house event on Oct. 25 and a concert with Kiana Ledé and student openers on Oct. 26.
The Johns Hopkins Name Review Board (NRB) made recommendations on the use of former United States President and Hopkins alumni Woodrow Wilson’s name for an undergraduate research program and residence hall entryway on Oct. 24. The Board recommended that the Woodrow Wilson Undergraduate Research Fellowship, which provides funding for students to conduct independent research, be renamed as the University Undergraduate Research Fellowship, effective immediately. The NRB also recommended that AMR I’s Wilson House entrance retain its name but with added contextual information.
On Oct. 14, the Center for Diversity and Inclusion hosted a program from 3–8 p.m to honor Indigenous Peoples’ Day, with a focus on Indigenous innovation and impact. The program included a community gathering event, a keynote presentation from Dr. Donald Warne — co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health — and a performance from the Piscataway Nation Singers & Dancers.
The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Agora Institute and the Center for Social Concern (CSC) hosted an event titled “Presidential Pardon Power: Where is the Limit?” on Wednesday, Oct. 9. As part of an ongoing discussion series tailored for engaging undergraduates in political issues, the event featured a discussion between Kim Wehle, a professor at the University of Maryland Law School and a legal contributor for ABC News, and Emily Zackin, a political science professor at Hopkins, about the contents of Wehle’s new book Pardon Power: How The Pardon System Works — And Why.
The 112th Student Government Association (SGA) convened on Tuesday, Oct. 15 for their weekly meeting.
The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Agora Institute organized an event titled “Silencing the Press in Criminal Wars: Why the War on Drugs Turned Mexico Into the World's Most Dangerous Country for Journalists” on Tuesday, Oct. 1. The event brought in Guillermo Trejo, a professor of political science at Notre Dame University and director of the Violence and Transitional Justice Lab at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies. Trejo is an avid researcher in examining political and criminal violence, as well as an advocate for human rights and social justice in Mexico and Latin American.
On Tuesday, Oct. 8 the SNF Agora Institute, in partnership with Johns Hopkins Model United Nations (HopMUN), hosted “How to Lose a Democracy,” a panel discussion that brought together four regional experts to present case studies of de-democratization.
This year, the Milton S. Eisenhower Library (MSE) closed for renovations. The plan was announced in the fall of 2023, and, as of last October, the renovations were expected to cost $100 million and to be completed in two and a half years. This semester, The News-Letter conducted a survey gauging student responses to this closure and assessing its impact on student life at Hopkins.
The Hopkins Lecture Series, a group within the Hopkins Student Organization for Programming, was formed following the merger of the Milton S. Eisenhower Symposium (MSE) and the Foreign Affairs Symposium (FAS). The Lecture Series hosts year-round programming on Homewood Campus and aims to facilitate dialogue at Hopkins and within the greater Baltimore community.
Peyton Mikolayek is a first-year undergraduate studying English and Psychology at the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. She’s also a social media influencer with over 500K followers on TikTok. In an interview with The News-Letter, Peyton discussed how she’s adapted to life in college and the reality of navigating dual worlds while maintaining authenticity, as well as how social media has created new opportunities for her.
