Critical. Subversive. Irrepressible.

AWOL
Critical. Subversive. Irrepressible.

AWOL
Critical. Subversive. Irrepressible.

AWOL
Two eras of protest

Two eras of protest

Students protested the National Guard, sexual assault and war this year. Their protests looked different nearly 60 years ago.
Sela Quiniones, Staff Writer • April 27, 2026

Over 1,000 American University students took to Ward Circle during rush hour on May 6, 1970. They were protesting the fatal shooting of four student protesters at an anti-Vietnam War protest at Kent State...

AU removes online records of pre-Alger presidents’ announcements

AU removes online records of pre-Alger presidents’ announcements

The university removed old announcements of protest policy changes, updates on its strategic plans and condemnations of hate incidents as part of routine, ongoing website updates, the university said.
Will Sytsma, Elias Garcia, and Joseph Albushies • March 11, 2026

American University removed 286 online records of reports and announcements from university presidents before AU President Jon Alger in recent weeks, AWOL found in a records search. The “President’s...

Movers remove furniture from First-Year Advising office building Clark Hall on March 31.

First-Year Advising’s final days

As their office closes down, first-year advisors are reassessing their places at AU.
Ben Ackman, Photography Producer • April 23, 2025

In college, Roshan Abraham decided he could spend the rest of his life studying literature. “Back when I was an undergrad, people didn’t worry as much about the question of ‘What are you going...

Kalea Grant and Demitra Moutoudis

On your feed

American University students and faculty weigh in on the value and implications of unaffiliated campus sources.
Francisco Rodriguez, Staff Writer • April 22, 2025

Senior Andy Gardner was meeting with a professor on Feb. 14 when a fellow student and friend of his came into the professor’s office and informed them that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer...

Federal government has revoked some AU international student visas

Federal government has revoked some AU international student visas

Administrators said they will not be making a statement or announcing further details.
Ben Ackman, Photography Producer • April 22, 2025

Some international students at American University have had their visas revoked by the federal government, according to Acting Provost Vicky Wilkins. Wilkins first told community members that some student...

Shayna Caruso, left, and Gabriela Rupp read written remarks to a crowd of 40 students in the Katzen rotunda. 20 more audience members watched on Zoom.

Education students feared loss of their school while massive gift was in the works

AU administrators secretly planned a large private donation to the School of Education for months, even as students and the public believed the school could be dissolved.
Ben Ackman and Ava Ramsdale • March 3, 2025

On the evening of Nov. 12, 2024, 40 students stood in the Katzen Arts Center rotunda, listening to two juniors in the School of Education read an email the then-SOE Dean Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy sent that...

The Gaza Solidarity Sukkah by the hours

The Gaza Solidarity Sukkah by the hours

The structure, erected by student demonstrators, stood for fewer than four hours before being dismantled.
Ben Ackman and Will Sytsma • October 30, 2024

At 9 a.m. on Oct. 23, a small cadre of activists stood over a pile of white PVC pipes and cellophane snack bags by Woods Gate next to Hurst Hall. By 9:15, they had raised a skeletal frame supported by...

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