From the Newsstands: This story appeared in The Eagle's April 2025 print edition.
President Donald Trump has issued a stream of executive orders and policy decisions following his re-election that have impacted a variety of organizations, initiatives and individuals. While most universities haven’t actively engaged against his actions, students and others impacted are actively facing the consequences.
Residents and students in the D.C. area are organizing efforts to push back against these decisions.
Gemma Leach, a junior in the School of Public Affairs and a leader at American University’s chapter of Sunrise, a climate activist group, said Trump’s executive orders, such as pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement, have not changed the organization’s mission but have impacted its campaign strategies. By pulling the United States from the agreement, Trump established the federal government would not try to meet emission reduction goals.
Leach said Sunrise AU has been focused on educating students on how they can get involved with local coalitions, communities and other climate advocacy efforts.
“People are fired up about this because of what’s happening at the federal level,” Leach said. “So we’re using that momentum to get people involved at the school level and, of course, the federal level as well.”
While Leach and Sunrise AU are working to denormalize fossil fuel contributions to campus and limit their influence, Trump has doubled down on oil and gas production in the U.S.
Leach said Sunrise encouraged faculty to make more “fossil-free commitments,” which has become more difficult with the increasing fear of losing federal funding for education as Trump threatens universities. Leach said faculty members have become “more resistant” to the idea of losing further funding.
“AU is committed to trying to keep things as financially stable as possible for professors and for students,” Leach said. “And we know that the fossil fuel industry isn’t contributing enough money [to the University] that losing it would be a significant financial hit.”
In a statement to The Eagle, Elizabeth Deal, assistant vice president and deputy chief communications officer, said the University’s commitment to sustainability, both on campus and through scholarships, remained a priority and core value.
Many universities across the country have not spoken out against the Trump administration. Trump has pulled funding from some, like Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania.
The University is currently facing an open investigation from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. The University told Reuters it would “comply with any communications or requests from OCR.”
The University’s response has largely focused on compliance, and in some cases has included student support initiatives. But during Trump’s first term, the University spoke out against federal decisions such as new Title IX rules and restrictions on international student visas. It also signed onto an amicus brief with Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in a federal court in Massachusetts.
Deal said now the University is continuously evaluating current and potential future policy while determining the necessary steps to take.
“While we cannot predict every scenario or hypothetical outcome, we know that policy actions may compel us to respond and adapt,” Deal said. “As developments proceed, we will make informed decisions based on our mission and values and share those considerations and outcomes with the community.”
Leach said working with faculty and students to get involved on the local level to fight back against the fossil fuel industry is important, especially under this new administration.
“When you have an administration … in the federal government that is actively working against the environment and working against stopping climate change, it’s really important that you’re taking more of an action on a local level,” Leach said. “We can take the smaller steps to kick [fossil fuel companies] off of our campuses … By taking these smaller steps, it will definitely add up.”
Faced with foreign aid cuts, student entrepreneur adapts
Some students have also adapted to changes outside of the University’s control in the face of the Trump administration.
Roland Tilk, a sophomore in SPA, said he immediately thought about threats to foreign and military aid to Ukraine when Trump was elected. Prior to the election and Trump’s assumption of office, Tilk and his company, Curoko Solutions, had been working on a proposal with the U.S. Agency of International Development.
USAID would have helped fund Tilk and Curoko Solutions to send power packs to Ukraine. Instead, Trump terminated 90 percent of USAID’s federal aid contracts.
The power packs were designed “specifically to Ukraine’s needs,” weighing 80 pounds, functional in sub-zero temperatures and waterproof with durable casing, Tilk said. Curoko Solutions was focused on supporting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure amidst its ongoing war with Russia.
Tilk and Curoko Solutions have begun to send pallets of portable power stations to Ukraine. The official launch of their company and its work has brought forth non-profits and other companies who support Ukraine looking to support their endeavors, Tilk said.
“In an odd way, the uncertainty pushed these companies out there,” Tilk said.
As the federal government’s attitude toward foreign aid shifts, Tilk said more opportunities to support Ukraine are emerging. Noticing increased support in D.C. for Ukraine amidst its ongoing war that began three years ago, Tilk said he was happy his company could support the nation.
“We’re college students trying to make a difference internationally,” Tilk said. “Anyone can make a difference — you just have to put the work in and remain perseverant.”
A shift in the District
Kaden Ouimet, the president of Taskforce USA and a sophomore in SPA, said he has noticed a shift in D.C. culture since Trump returned to office. Since the election, Ouimet said the nonpartisan task force, centered around protecting democracy, has focused on mobilizing students across D.C. for teach-ins, protests and workshops to “move towards demanding democracy.”
“We’re here, we’re ready and we’re fighting,” Ouimet said. “We have a presence in D.C. and we want to prioritize organizing under autocracy.”
Emerson Katz, a sophomore in SPA, said she feels the weight of uncertainty now, more than ever.
“Every day, I wake up in the morning and I just don’t know what to expect,” Katz said. “It’s almost like progress is being turned backwards when we need it to be pushed forward.”
While some students feel discouraged following the election results, others are optimistic about Trump’s second term. Luke Brown, AU College Republicans communications director and treasurer and sophomore in SPA, said he noticed the club gained momentum following Trump’s election and inauguration.
“We’ve increased our social media presence, we’re making statements, we’re doing things like that, so I think we’re just trying to be more active where we can,” Brown said.
Brown said he and other AU College Republicans understand that some may feel unsure about the future, but he was still surprised by the reactions most students had to the election.
“I wasn’t expecting the despair of everyone to be as high as it was,” Brown said.
Although the University is a predominantly liberal campus, Brown said he has noticed a “big wave of Republican optimism” in D.C.
MJ Childs, a freshman at George Washington University, said he always considered D.C. to be inclusive of the queer community, which he is a part of. Shortly after the inauguration, Childs said he noticed a shift in the District’s progressive culture.
“First, [an anonymous online account] commented ‘disgusting creature’ on my posts, and I was like, ‘Okay,’ then that’s when they followed up with using the F-slur and the N-word,” Childs said. “It was very alarming when I read that across my screen.”
These comments came in response to images Childs posted from a photoshoot for George Washington’s Fashion and Business Association centered around queer identity. Originally from suburban Pennsylvania, Childs said this was not something he would expect to occur in “liberal-minded” D.C.
“[Trump] enables a lot of discrimination and a lot of derogatory behavior,” Childs said. “And I do think that that person did feel, even if it wasn’t directly — I think at least subconsciously — they felt able to comment that based off of him winning the election.”
At American University, Deal said the Office of Inclusive Excellence is working to provide guidance and answer questions as Trump threatens to cease federal funding for academic institutions that consider race in most aspects of student life.
“We are also working closely with national organizations. While we continue to explore any potential additional implications of federal policy actions, our commitment and work to advance a welcoming, inclusive community for everyone endures,” Deal said. “We embrace the full and wide array of perspectives and backgrounds in our community that enrich our learning environment for everyone.
A shrinking federal workforce
In the first two months of the year, the government laid off more than 62,500 workers. Trump has also planned to cut 80,000 jobs from Veterans Affairs.
Robin Bell, a 20-year Army veteran and previous Pentagon consultant, still has friends and family members who work in the federal government, and Trump’s job cuts have directly impacted their work.
“When Trump first got elected this time, [my friend] and I would talk, and he was like, ‘Oh, we’ll be fine, it’s not going to impact us,’” Bell said. “But now it’s impacting him directly because he works at [Veterans Affairs], and now he is afraid of his livelihood.”
The cuts to the federal workforce have also hit students. Katz said she did not realize how she would be directly affected until her application for an internship with the Environmental Protection Agency was terminated following the federal hiring freeze on Jan. 20.
“I kind of pushed my emotions to the side and was trying to remain optimistic,” Katz said. “And then I got that email, and I think any amount of hope that I had left kind of just started rescinding.”
Like many undergraduate students at the University, Carly Castaldy, a sophomore in SPA, said she is interested in a career in politics after graduation. However, she said she is considering alternative options after seeing firsthand how those in New Hampshire Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen’s office are now struggling to do their jobs.
Castaldy said she had always wanted to experience working on Capitol Hill. She started working for Senator Shaheen in early January, just a few weeks before Trump took office. Her main role is answering constituent phone calls, which she said have gotten more “hectic” since Trump’s arrival.
“It was either the second or the third week after the administration switched, and we got something like 20,000 messages from constituents in a week, and that’s insane,” Castaldy said of calls about Trump’s executive orders.
Castaldy said most of these calls are very negative and come from people from both ends of the political spectrum.
“[The negativity has] been hard at times, just because there’s not really a lot I can do to help,” Castaldy said.
Preparing to face proposed changes
Students and D.C. locals are also gearing up for proposed changes by the Trump administration, including eliminating the Department of Education and curbing D.C.’s home rule.
Pia Morrison, president of the Service Employees International Union Local 500, which represents University Academic Affairs staff, adjunct professors and graduate students, said the loss of the Department could directly impact the federal funding provided to public schools.
Ellie Levin, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences and a special education minor, said she worries that this means students won’t get the “resources and education they deserve.” Levin added her concern has only grown since the dismantling of the Department.
“The Department of Education is literally what helps the kids that we would be teaching and funds our jobs,” Levin said. “So [School of Education students] were just a little bit in shock about what’s going to happen, not even just to us, but the kids that we were supposed to help.”
As a future educator, Levin said it has been difficult to watch some recent SOE graduates lose their jobs, but she has remained determined to continue pursuing a career in education.
“If everyone gets nervous about not having a job, who’s going to be there for the kids at the end of the day?” Levin said. “The people in my classes are very much still motivated, and the professors especially think this only means we need to work harder.”
Morrison said it is more important now than ever that members “stand together” to make sure their voices are heard.
“It is important that all unions across the country are standing together and signing petitions, calling elected officials and just holding elected officials accountable as much as possible,” Morrison said. “Because when they feel the heat, they move.”
Along with his various executive orders, Trump has also expressed wanting the federal government to “take over” D.C., citing high crime and homelessness as his main reasons. Congressional Republicans have also taken steps to repeal the District’s long-standing right to self-governance, which was established in 1973 by the Home Rule Act.
Anne Stauffer, vice president of issues and advocacy at the League of Women Voters for D.C., said the threat to D.C.’s self-governance posed by the Trump administration is both “undemocratic” and “un-American.”
“D.C. residents pay federal taxes, we serve in the military, we contribute to this country, like every other American, and yet we continue to be treated as second-class citizens and are forced to defend our freedom to have self-governance,” Stauffer said.
Without self-governance, Stauffer said D.C. residents will have less of a voice than before. Even with the Home Rule Act, the District still lacks the same autonomy as other states, including representation in Congress, the ability to independently legislate and manage its budget, free of federal government interference.
Ouimet added that these attacks on home rule are significant because Congress uses D.C. as a “testing ground” for national policies.
“Whatever happens [in D.C.] is going to cause ripples and reverberate across the United States,” Ouimet said.
Deal said the University would work with D.C. government officials, neighbors and local partners to address local policy issues and support the D.C. community.
According to Stauffer, the answer to protecting D.C. home rule is obtaining statehood, which she said could be more difficult under the Trump administration and a Republican-majority Senate.
“Congress is ultimately the body of elected officials that would approve a statehood admission bill for D.C.,” Stauffer said. “So we need people across the country to care and say that this needs to be fixed as well.”
This article was edited by Owen Auston-Babcock, Abigail Hatting, Walker Whalen, Maya Cederlund, Tyler Davis and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks, Ariana Kavoossi, Olivia Citarella, Emma Brown, Ella Rousseau, Sabine Kanter-Huchting, Nicole Kariuki and Jaden Anderson. Fact checking done by Luna Jinks, Olivia Citarella, Hannah Langenfeld and Diana Melgar.