Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
April 15, 2025
April 15, 2025 | Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896

News & Features







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

HJC demands a sanctuary campus prohibiting ICE activities

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.







COURTESY OF KAYLEE NGUYEN 
The speakers at this event highlighted their experiences of  being refugees and how that motivated them to pursue work in public health.

Students at the School of Public Health speak out on their experiences as refugees in Center for Humanitarian Health event

On Wednesday March 5, the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health and Global Health NOW hosted an event entitled “Extraordinary Journeys: Stories of Refugees Fleeing Conflict and Shaping Global Health.” Held at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center in Washington D.C. and available to an online audience through a livestream, the storytelling event highlighted the experiences of refugees from the Bloomberg School of Public Health (BSPH) community. 





COURTESY OF LANA SWINDLE
Protestors gathered at the Lincoln Memorial to support funding for scientific research in light of recent cuts by the Trump administration.

Participants at Stand Up for Science Rally protest science research funding cuts in D.C.

On Friday, March 7, 2025, Stand Up for Science, a volunteer-based operation designed to protest perceived threats to scientific research and funding, gathered outside the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The demonstration, which drew approximately 2,000 participants — including Hopkins students, lab groups and over 30 speakers from academia, hospitals and government — highlighted concerns over frozen research grants, the dismissal of government scientists and rollbacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.


STEVEN SIMPSON / PHOTO EDITOR
A University spokesperson stated that for some spaces on the Hopkins campus, including classrooms, federal law enforcement officials must provide a valid warrant or court order. 

University campuses and hospitals no longer off limits to ICE

On Jan. 21, 2025 the Acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Benjamin Huffman announced a directive that universities, hospitals, and religious spaces are no longer protected from immigration law enforcement activities. This detective overturned a 2021 memorandum that stated schools, healthcare families, places of worship and social services establishments were protected spaces where immigration law enforcement operations should not be carried out.



MIKE GIFFORD / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Hopkins faculty and employees share how the termination of many USAID programs has impacted their work. 

Hopkins programs forced to close as Trump administration ends USAID grants

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Monday, March 10, that the Trump administration had completed its six-week review of programs within the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and will shutter 83% of the programs. The rest of the programs will be folded into the U.S. Department of State. The News-Letter spoke with several faculty and staff members at the School of Public Health whose work has been affected by the termination of USAID grants or reductions in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).


COURTESY OF ANDREW THAMPOE
Thampoe described his work founding the Organic Chemistry Initiative (OCI) and how it has evolved since its inception in Fall 2023.

Humans of Hopkins: Andrew Thampoe

Andrew Thampoe is a senior completing a BS/MS in Chemistry in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. He is also the founder of the Organic Chemistry Initiative (OCI), an organization assisting Hopkins students who take organic chemistry courses in developing their understanding of the material in a cooperative environment. In an interview with The News-Letter, Thampoe described OCI’s history, its impact on the student body and personal meaning to him.


News-Letter Magazine